diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index 2fdf30eefc59..8185966e0a37 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -9351,14 +9351,17 @@ int bpf_xdp_link_attach(const union bpf_attr *attr, struct bpf_prog *prog)
 	struct net_device *dev;
 	int err, fd;
 
+	rtnl_lock();
 	dev = dev_get_by_index(net, attr->link_create.target_ifindex);
-	if (!dev)
+	if (!dev) {
+		rtnl_unlock();
 		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	link = kzalloc(sizeof(*link), GFP_USER);
 	if (!link) {
 		err = -ENOMEM;
-		goto out_put_dev;
+		goto unlock;
 	}
 
 	bpf_link_init(&link->link, BPF_LINK_TYPE_XDP, &bpf_xdp_link_lops, prog);
@@ -9368,14 +9371,14 @@ int bpf_xdp_link_attach(const union bpf_attr *attr, struct bpf_prog *prog)
 	err = bpf_link_prime(&link->link, &link_primer);
 	if (err) {
 		kfree(link);
-		goto out_put_dev;
+		goto unlock;
 	}
 
-	rtnl_lock();
 	err = dev_xdp_attach_link(dev, NULL, link);
 	rtnl_unlock();
 
 	if (err) {
+		link->dev = NULL;
 		bpf_link_cleanup(&link_primer);
 		goto out_put_dev;
 	}
@@ -9385,6 +9388,9 @@ int bpf_xdp_link_attach(const union bpf_attr *attr, struct bpf_prog *prog)
 	dev_put(dev);
 	return fd;
 
+unlock:
+	rtnl_unlock();
+
 out_put_dev:
 	dev_put(dev);
 	return err;