diff --git a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
index dea925388a5b7a86ba649f888fb10bb805f54edb..9a0ae7172f9271851f7a7c036e1c1980f45e5255 100644
--- a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
+++ b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ static int __netlink_remove_tap(struct netlink_tap *nt)
 out:
 	spin_unlock(&netlink_tap_lock);
 
-	if (found && nt->module)
+	if (found)
 		module_put(nt->module);
 
 	return found ? 0 : -ENODEV;