diff --git a/net/wireless/wext.c b/net/wireless/wext.c
index a1cd19add6d8..e96559ea0fb3 100644
--- a/net/wireless/wext.c
+++ b/net/wireless/wext.c
@@ -1061,18 +1061,26 @@ static int wireless_process_ioctl(struct net *net, struct ifreq *ifr, unsigned i
 	return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 }
 
+/* If command is `set a parameter', or `get the encoding parameters',
+ * check if the user has the right to do it.
+ */
+static int wext_permission_check(unsigned int cmd)
+{
+	if ((IW_IS_SET(cmd) || cmd == SIOCGIWENCODE || cmd == SIOCGIWENCODEEXT)
+	    && !capable(CAP_NET_ADMIN))
+		return -EPERM;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /* entry point from dev ioctl */
 int wext_handle_ioctl(struct net *net, struct ifreq *ifr, unsigned int cmd,
 		      void __user *arg)
 {
-	int ret;
+	int ret = wext_permission_check(cmd);
 
-	/* If command is `set a parameter', or
-	 * `get the encoding parameters', check if
-	 * the user has the right to do it */
-	if ((IW_IS_SET(cmd) || cmd == SIOCGIWENCODE || cmd == SIOCGIWENCODEEXT)
-	    && !capable(CAP_NET_ADMIN))
-		return -EPERM;
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
 
 	dev_load(net, ifr->ifr_name);
 	rtnl_lock();