diff --git a/net/core/fib_rules.c b/net/core/fib_rules.c
index a0093e1b0235355db66b980580243dd6619c9aa6..fdcb1bcd2afad5737a2c11fab55a3c214b86388d 100644
--- a/net/core/fib_rules.c
+++ b/net/core/fib_rules.c
@@ -400,6 +400,7 @@ int fib_nl_newrule(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		err = -ENOMEM;
 		goto errout;
 	}
+	refcount_set(&rule->refcnt, 1);
 	rule->fr_net = net;
 
 	rule->pref = tb[FRA_PRIORITY] ? nla_get_u32(tb[FRA_PRIORITY])
@@ -517,8 +518,6 @@ int fib_nl_newrule(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		last = r;
 	}
 
-	refcount_set(&rule->refcnt, 1);
-
 	if (last)
 		list_add_rcu(&rule->list, &last->list);
 	else