diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-01-23-20-20-42.gh-issue-144194.IbXfxd.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-01-23-20-20-42.gh-issue-144194.IbXfxd.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..6ac558af2276a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2026-01-23-20-20-42.gh-issue-144194.IbXfxd.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix mmap failure check in perf jitdump initialization. The code incorrectly
+checked for NULL instead of MAP_FAILED, causing failures to go undetected.
diff --git a/Python/perf_jit_trampoline.c b/Python/perf_jit_trampoline.c
index f51ab1b47a04f1..0ba856ea610e59 100644
--- a/Python/perf_jit_trampoline.c
+++ b/Python/perf_jit_trampoline.c
@@ -1083,7 +1083,8 @@ static void* perf_map_jit_init(void) {
         0                        // Offset 0 (first page)
     );
 
-    if (perf_jit_map_state.mapped_buffer == NULL) {
+    if (perf_jit_map_state.mapped_buffer == MAP_FAILED) {
+        perf_jit_map_state.mapped_buffer = NULL;
         close(fd);
         return NULL;  // Memory mapping failed
     }