diff --git a/net/sched/cls_u32.c b/net/sched/cls_u32.c
index b61db335c49d..da042bc8b239 100644
--- a/net/sched/cls_u32.c
+++ b/net/sched/cls_u32.c
@@ -814,10 +814,6 @@ static struct tc_u_knode *u32_init_knode(struct net *net, struct tcf_proto *tp,
 	new->flags = n->flags;
 	RCU_INIT_POINTER(new->ht_down, ht);
 
-	/* bump reference count as long as we hold pointer to structure */
-	if (ht)
-		ht->refcnt++;
-
 #ifdef CONFIG_CLS_U32_PERF
 	/* Statistics may be incremented by readers during update
 	 * so we must keep them in tact. When the node is later destroyed
@@ -839,6 +835,10 @@ static struct tc_u_knode *u32_init_knode(struct net *net, struct tcf_proto *tp,
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
+	/* bump reference count as long as we hold pointer to structure */
+	if (ht)
+		ht->refcnt++;
+
 	return new;
 }