diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_vlan.c b/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_vlan.c
index 1ee46194bbf5..081b33deff1b 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_vlan.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_vlan.c
@@ -133,13 +133,13 @@ int ipoib_vlan_add(struct net_device *pdev, unsigned short pkey)
 	snprintf(intf_name, sizeof intf_name, "%s.%04x",
 		 ppriv->dev->name, pkey);
 
+	if (!rtnl_trylock())
+		return restart_syscall();
+
 	priv = ipoib_intf_alloc(ppriv->ca, ppriv->port, intf_name);
 	if (!priv)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	if (!rtnl_trylock())
-		return restart_syscall();
-
 	down_write(&ppriv->vlan_rwsem);
 
 	/*