diff --git a/fs/dlm/rcom.c b/fs/dlm/rcom.c
index 085f21966c72..a7727b9e5e83 100644
--- a/fs/dlm/rcom.c
+++ b/fs/dlm/rcom.c
@@ -385,10 +385,6 @@ static void receive_rcom_lookup(struct dlm_ls *ls, struct dlm_rcom *rc_in)
 	int error, ret_nodeid, nodeid = rc_in->rc_header.h_nodeid;
 	int len = rc_in->rc_header.h_length - sizeof(struct dlm_rcom);
 
-	error = create_rcom(ls, nodeid, DLM_RCOM_LOOKUP_REPLY, 0, &rc, &mh);
-	if (error)
-		return;
-
 	/* Old code would send this special id to trigger a debug dump. */
 	if (rc_in->rc_id == 0xFFFFFFFF) {
 		log_error(ls, "receive_rcom_lookup dump from %d", nodeid);
@@ -396,6 +392,10 @@ static void receive_rcom_lookup(struct dlm_ls *ls, struct dlm_rcom *rc_in)
 		return;
 	}
 
+	error = create_rcom(ls, nodeid, DLM_RCOM_LOOKUP_REPLY, 0, &rc, &mh);
+	if (error)
+		return;
+
 	error = dlm_master_lookup(ls, nodeid, rc_in->rc_buf, len,
 				  DLM_LU_RECOVER_MASTER, &ret_nodeid, NULL);
 	if (error)