diff --git a/drivers/net/veth.c b/drivers/net/veth.c
index f9f0730b53d5..5ec542dd5b50 100644
--- a/drivers/net/veth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/veth.c
@@ -187,7 +187,6 @@ static netdev_tx_t veth_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 
 rx_drop:
-	kfree_skb(skb);
 	rcv_stats->rx_dropped++;
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;
 }
diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index f769098774b7..264137fce3a2 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -1451,7 +1451,7 @@ static inline void net_timestamp(struct sk_buff *skb)
  *
  * return values:
  *	NET_RX_SUCCESS	(no congestion)
- *	NET_RX_DROP     (packet was dropped)
+ *	NET_RX_DROP     (packet was dropped, but freed)
  *
  * dev_forward_skb can be used for injecting an skb from the
  * start_xmit function of one device into the receive queue
@@ -1465,12 +1465,11 @@ int dev_forward_skb(struct net_device *dev, struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
 	skb_orphan(skb);
 
-	if (!(dev->flags & IFF_UP))
+	if (!(dev->flags & IFF_UP) ||
+	    (skb->len > (dev->mtu + dev->hard_header_len))) {
+		kfree_skb(skb);
 		return NET_RX_DROP;
-
-	if (skb->len > (dev->mtu + dev->hard_header_len))
-		return NET_RX_DROP;
-
+	}
 	skb_set_dev(skb, dev);
 	skb->tstamp.tv64 = 0;
 	skb->pkt_type = PACKET_HOST;