diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index dfd9b310a1cc..19abef2b4dd5 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2944,6 +2944,7 @@ sub process {
 		if ($rpt_cleaners) {
 			print "NOTE: whitespace errors detected, you may wish to use scripts/cleanpatch or\n";
 			print "      scripts/cleanfile\n\n";
+			$rpt_cleaners = 0;
 		}
 	}