diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/intel_th/msu.c b/drivers/hwtracing/intel_th/msu.c
index fc9f15f36ad4..51021020fa3f 100644
--- a/drivers/hwtracing/intel_th/msu.c
+++ b/drivers/hwtracing/intel_th/msu.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ struct msc {
 };
 
 static LIST_HEAD(msu_buffer_list);
-static struct mutex msu_buffer_mutex;
+static DEFINE_MUTEX(msu_buffer_mutex);
 
 /**
  * struct msu_buffer_entry - internal MSU buffer bookkeeping