diff --git a/fs/io_uring.c b/fs/io_uring.c
index 226e9f123f654685b98187af037920c1a29df4cb..da61eeaf64e88e636e5ff61f5a9895e9f3368a23 100644
--- a/fs/io_uring.c
+++ b/fs/io_uring.c
@@ -5925,8 +5925,8 @@ static enum hrtimer_restart io_link_timeout_fn(struct hrtimer *timer)
 	if (!list_empty(&req->link_list)) {
 		prev = list_entry(req->link_list.prev, struct io_kiocb,
 				  link_list);
+		list_del_init(&req->link_list);
 		if (refcount_inc_not_zero(&prev->refs)) {
-			list_del_init(&req->link_list);
 			prev->flags &= ~REQ_F_LINK_TIMEOUT;
 		} else
 			prev = NULL;