diff --git a/net/core/net_namespace.c b/net/core/net_namespace.c
index 9745cb6fdf51..982d06332007 100644
--- a/net/core/net_namespace.c
+++ b/net/core/net_namespace.c
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@ static int net_assign_generic(struct net *net, unsigned int id, void *data)
 
 static int ops_init(const struct pernet_operations *ops, struct net *net)
 {
+	struct net_generic *ng;
 	int err = -ENOMEM;
 	void *data = NULL;
 
@@ -135,7 +136,13 @@ static int ops_init(const struct pernet_operations *ops, struct net *net)
 	if (!err)
 		return 0;
 
+	if (ops->id && ops->size) {
 cleanup:
+		ng = rcu_dereference_protected(net->gen,
+					       lockdep_is_held(&pernet_ops_rwsem));
+		ng->ptr[*ops->id] = NULL;
+	}
+
 	kfree(data);
 
 out: