diff --git a/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c b/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c
index 93148a215e7c..e454f23f31fb 100644
--- a/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c
+++ b/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c
@@ -310,8 +310,8 @@ static int l2tp_nl_cmd_tunnel_modify(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info
 	}
 	tunnel_id = nla_get_u32(info->attrs[L2TP_ATTR_CONN_ID]);
 
-	tunnel = l2tp_tunnel_find(net, tunnel_id);
-	if (tunnel == NULL) {
+	tunnel = l2tp_tunnel_get(net, tunnel_id);
+	if (!tunnel) {
 		ret = -ENODEV;
 		goto out;
 	}
@@ -322,6 +322,8 @@ static int l2tp_nl_cmd_tunnel_modify(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info
 	ret = l2tp_tunnel_notify(&l2tp_nl_family, info,
 				 tunnel, L2TP_CMD_TUNNEL_MODIFY);
 
+	l2tp_tunnel_dec_refcount(tunnel);
+
 out:
 	return ret;
 }