diff --git a/security/smack/smack_lsm.c b/security/smack/smack_lsm.c
index 3a5684b47354fc169d49c0ee1b25ed98f8b899c5..f7ee77c3db555cbd41c083f576b58ea2428775e0 100644
--- a/security/smack/smack_lsm.c
+++ b/security/smack/smack_lsm.c
@@ -2023,6 +2023,8 @@ static int smack_cred_prepare(struct cred *new, const struct cred *old,
 	if (new_tsp == NULL)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	new->security = new_tsp;
+
 	rc = smk_copy_rules(&new_tsp->smk_rules, &old_tsp->smk_rules, gfp);
 	if (rc != 0)
 		return rc;
@@ -2032,7 +2034,6 @@ static int smack_cred_prepare(struct cred *new, const struct cred *old,
 	if (rc != 0)
 		return rc;
 
-	new->security = new_tsp;
 	return 0;
 }