diff --git a/net/8021q/vlan_netlink.c b/net/8021q/vlan_netlink.c
index 53b1955b027f..214532173536 100644
--- a/net/8021q/vlan_netlink.c
+++ b/net/8021q/vlan_netlink.c
@@ -182,10 +182,14 @@ static int vlan_newlink(struct net *src_net, struct net_device *dev,
 	else if (dev->mtu > max_mtu)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
+	/* Note: If this initial vlan_changelink() fails, we need
+	 * to call vlan_dev_free_egress_priority() to free memory.
+	 */
 	err = vlan_changelink(dev, tb, data, extack);
-	if (err)
-		return err;
-	err = register_vlan_dev(dev, extack);
+
+	if (!err)
+		err = register_vlan_dev(dev, extack);
+
 	if (err)
 		vlan_dev_free_egress_priority(dev);
 	return err;