diff --git a/fs/debugfs/inode.c b/fs/debugfs/inode.c
index 85d166cdcae4908e8916b4e66a1dd30722b00f1c..b55b4ea9a67675a92377ffeb4a12ab9542ed8ca6 100644
--- a/fs/debugfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/debugfs/inode.c
@@ -67,12 +67,13 @@ static struct inode *debugfs_get_inode(struct super_block *sb, int mode, dev_t d
 static int debugfs_mknod(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
 			 int mode, dev_t dev)
 {
-	struct inode *inode = debugfs_get_inode(dir->i_sb, mode, dev);
+	struct inode *inode;
 	int error = -EPERM;
 
 	if (dentry->d_inode)
 		return -EEXIST;
 
+	inode = debugfs_get_inode(dir->i_sb, mode, dev);
 	if (inode) {
 		d_instantiate(dentry, inode);
 		dget(dentry);