diff --git a/arch/um/kernel/irq.c b/arch/um/kernel/irq.c
index 70c2d625b0702a284c5b72c65fa3eb4c907e4428..ba11ccd6a8a3f72e4ab641a5f79f21a740a1ad0a 100644
--- a/arch/um/kernel/irq.c
+++ b/arch/um/kernel/irq.c
@@ -347,14 +347,15 @@ int um_request_irq(unsigned int irq, int fd, int type,
 {
 	int err;
 
-	err = request_irq(irq, handler, irqflags, devname, dev_id);
-	if (err)
-		return err;
-
-	if (fd != -1)
+	if (fd != -1) {
 		err = activate_fd(irq, fd, type, dev_id);
-	return err;
+		if (err)
+			return err;
+	}
+
+	return request_irq(irq, handler, irqflags, devname, dev_id);
 }
+
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(um_request_irq);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(reactivate_fd);