diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
index 06802295e170..d9e534c6fd0c 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
@@ -6894,10 +6894,12 @@ int tcp_conn_request(struct request_sock_ops *rsk_ops,
 		tcp_rsk(req)->ts_off = af_ops->init_ts_off(net, skb);
 
 	if (!want_cookie && !isn) {
+		int max_syn_backlog = READ_ONCE(net->ipv4.sysctl_max_syn_backlog);
+
 		/* Kill the following clause, if you dislike this way. */
 		if (!syncookies &&
-		    (net->ipv4.sysctl_max_syn_backlog - inet_csk_reqsk_queue_len(sk) <
-		     (net->ipv4.sysctl_max_syn_backlog >> 2)) &&
+		    (max_syn_backlog - inet_csk_reqsk_queue_len(sk) <
+		     (max_syn_backlog >> 2)) &&
 		    !tcp_peer_is_proven(req, dst)) {
 			/* Without syncookies last quarter of
 			 * backlog is filled with destinations,