diff --git a/drivers/net/ppp_generic.c b/drivers/net/ppp_generic.c
index 9293c82ef2af24a9e85a7fc6f0d26fc215797f1b..7e21342becb2eb00175613622649ec9ff7545c4c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ppp_generic.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ppp_generic.c
@@ -899,17 +899,9 @@ ppp_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 
 	/* Put the 2-byte PPP protocol number on the front,
 	   making sure there is room for the address and control fields. */
-	if (skb_headroom(skb) < PPP_HDRLEN) {
-		struct sk_buff *ns;
-
-		ns = alloc_skb(skb->len + dev->hard_header_len, GFP_ATOMIC);
-		if (ns == 0)
-			goto outf;
-		skb_reserve(ns, dev->hard_header_len);
-		skb_copy_bits(skb, 0, skb_put(ns, skb->len), skb->len);
-		kfree_skb(skb);
-		skb = ns;
-	}
+	if (skb_cow_head(skb, PPP_HDRLEN))
+		goto outf;
+
 	pp = skb_push(skb, 2);
 	proto = npindex_to_proto[npi];
 	pp[0] = proto >> 8;