diff --git a/net/mptcp/fastopen.c b/net/mptcp/fastopen.c
index d237d142171c5a96b13ef459832fc988fa2f5401..bceaab8dd8e460e7a3459e12af6089ab6bb6b2b7 100644
--- a/net/mptcp/fastopen.c
+++ b/net/mptcp/fastopen.c
@@ -9,11 +9,18 @@
 void mptcp_fastopen_subflow_synack_set_params(struct mptcp_subflow_context *subflow,
 					      struct request_sock *req)
 {
-	struct sock *ssk = subflow->tcp_sock;
-	struct sock *sk = subflow->conn;
+	struct sock *sk, *ssk;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
 	struct tcp_sock *tp;
 
+	/* on early fallback the subflow context is deleted by
+	 * subflow_syn_recv_sock()
+	 */
+	if (!subflow)
+		return;
+
+	ssk = subflow->tcp_sock;
+	sk = subflow->conn;
 	tp = tcp_sk(ssk);
 
 	subflow->is_mptfo = 1;