diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c
index 3bbb49354829a6f36efab13e1420feefd73b907c..e5591f4f19b78b6f64fb180dc735f243abbe5eb9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/fs_core.c
@@ -1814,6 +1814,13 @@ _mlx5_add_flow_rules(struct mlx5_flow_table *ft,
 		return rule;
 	}
 
+	fte = alloc_fte(ft, spec, flow_act);
+	if (IS_ERR(fte)) {
+		up_write_ref_node(&ft->node, false);
+		err = PTR_ERR(fte);
+		goto err_alloc_fte;
+	}
+
 	nested_down_write_ref_node(&g->node, FS_LOCK_PARENT);
 	up_write_ref_node(&ft->node, false);
 
@@ -1821,17 +1828,9 @@ _mlx5_add_flow_rules(struct mlx5_flow_table *ft,
 	if (err)
 		goto err_release_fg;
 
-	fte = alloc_fte(ft, spec, flow_act);
-	if (IS_ERR(fte)) {
-		err = PTR_ERR(fte);
-		goto err_release_fg;
-	}
-
 	err = insert_fte(g, fte);
-	if (err) {
-		kmem_cache_free(steering->ftes_cache, fte);
+	if (err)
 		goto err_release_fg;
-	}
 
 	nested_down_write_ref_node(&fte->node, FS_LOCK_CHILD);
 	up_write_ref_node(&g->node, false);
@@ -1843,6 +1842,8 @@ _mlx5_add_flow_rules(struct mlx5_flow_table *ft,
 
 err_release_fg:
 	up_write_ref_node(&g->node, false);
+	kmem_cache_free(steering->ftes_cache, fte);
+err_alloc_fte:
 	tree_put_node(&g->node, false);
 	return ERR_PTR(err);
 }