diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
index ed86a3be678ea28590d34018b5ec990cbf052e8d..fa4b82c8ae8078b7a2e94f367987d8bc79ef991c 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
@@ -635,8 +635,12 @@ static noinline int early_drop(struct net *net, unsigned int hash)
 
 	if (del_timer(&ct->timeout)) {
 		death_by_timeout((unsigned long)ct);
-		dropped = 1;
-		NF_CT_STAT_INC_ATOMIC(net, early_drop);
+		/* Check if we indeed killed this entry. Reliable event
+		   delivery may have inserted it into the dying list. */
+		if (test_bit(IPS_DYING_BIT, &ct->status)) {
+			dropped = 1;
+			NF_CT_STAT_INC_ATOMIC(net, early_drop);
+		}
 	}
 	nf_ct_put(ct);
 	return dropped;