diff --git a/include/net/addrconf.h b/include/net/addrconf.h
index 61ebe723ee4d..facb7a469efa 100644
--- a/include/net/addrconf.h
+++ b/include/net/addrconf.h
@@ -437,6 +437,10 @@ static inline void in6_ifa_hold(struct inet6_ifaddr *ifp)
 	refcount_inc(&ifp->refcnt);
 }
 
+static inline bool in6_ifa_hold_safe(struct inet6_ifaddr *ifp)
+{
+	return refcount_inc_not_zero(&ifp->refcnt);
+}
 
 /*
  *	compute link-local solicited-node multicast address
diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
index 6f57cbddeee6..d1806eee1687 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
@@ -2058,9 +2058,10 @@ struct inet6_ifaddr *ipv6_get_ifaddr(struct net *net, const struct in6_addr *add
 		if (ipv6_addr_equal(&ifp->addr, addr)) {
 			if (!dev || ifp->idev->dev == dev ||
 			    !(ifp->scope&(IFA_LINK|IFA_HOST) || strict)) {
-				result = ifp;
-				in6_ifa_hold(ifp);
-				break;
+				if (in6_ifa_hold_safe(ifp)) {
+					result = ifp;
+					break;
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}