diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c
index 04d76f043e18..44876509d215 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_gre.c
@@ -1560,17 +1560,18 @@ static void ip6gre_destroy_tunnels(struct net *net, struct list_head *head)
 static int __net_init ip6gre_init_net(struct net *net)
 {
 	struct ip6gre_net *ign = net_generic(net, ip6gre_net_id);
+	struct net_device *ndev;
 	int err;
 
 	if (!net_has_fallback_tunnels(net))
 		return 0;
-	ign->fb_tunnel_dev = alloc_netdev(sizeof(struct ip6_tnl), "ip6gre0",
-					  NET_NAME_UNKNOWN,
-					  ip6gre_tunnel_setup);
-	if (!ign->fb_tunnel_dev) {
+	ndev = alloc_netdev(sizeof(struct ip6_tnl), "ip6gre0",
+			    NET_NAME_UNKNOWN, ip6gre_tunnel_setup);
+	if (!ndev) {
 		err = -ENOMEM;
 		goto err_alloc_dev;
 	}
+	ign->fb_tunnel_dev = ndev;
 	dev_net_set(ign->fb_tunnel_dev, net);
 	/* FB netdevice is special: we have one, and only one per netns.
 	 * Allowing to move it to another netns is clearly unsafe.
@@ -1590,7 +1591,7 @@ static int __net_init ip6gre_init_net(struct net *net)
 	return 0;
 
 err_reg_dev:
-	free_netdev(ign->fb_tunnel_dev);
+	free_netdev(ndev);
 err_alloc_dev:
 	return err;
 }