diff --git a/net/tipc/msg.c b/net/tipc/msg.c
index 9a6e9bcbf694..76284fc538eb 100644
--- a/net/tipc/msg.c
+++ b/net/tipc/msg.c
@@ -142,9 +142,9 @@ int tipc_buf_append(struct sk_buff **headbuf, struct sk_buff **buf)
 	if (fragid == FIRST_FRAGMENT) {
 		if (unlikely(head))
 			goto err;
-		*buf = NULL;
 		if (skb_has_frag_list(frag) && __skb_linearize(frag))
 			goto err;
+		*buf = NULL;
 		frag = skb_unshare(frag, GFP_ATOMIC);
 		if (unlikely(!frag))
 			goto err;