diff --git a/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c b/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c
index 0a27f7e976f3..93148a215e7c 100644
--- a/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c
+++ b/net/l2tp/l2tp_netlink.c
@@ -280,8 +280,8 @@ static int l2tp_nl_cmd_tunnel_delete(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;
 	}
@@ -291,6 +291,8 @@ static int l2tp_nl_cmd_tunnel_delete(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info
 
 	l2tp_tunnel_delete(tunnel);
 
+	l2tp_tunnel_dec_refcount(tunnel);
+
 out:
 	return ret;
 }