diff --git a/net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c b/net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c
index a4d9126c7b51..24549b4aeae2 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c
@@ -854,14 +854,14 @@ int ip_tunnel_init_net(struct net *net, int ip_tnl_net_id,
 
 	rtnl_lock();
 	itn->fb_tunnel_dev = __ip_tunnel_create(net, ops, &parms);
-	/* FB netdevice is special: we have one, and only one per netns.
-	 * Allowing to move it to another netns is clearly unsafe.
-	 */
-	itn->fb_tunnel_dev->features |= NETIF_F_NETNS_LOCAL;
 	rtnl_unlock();
 
 	if (IS_ERR(itn->fb_tunnel_dev))
 		return PTR_ERR(itn->fb_tunnel_dev);
+	/* FB netdevice is special: we have one, and only one per netns.
+	 * Allowing to move it to another netns is clearly unsafe.
+	 */
+	itn->fb_tunnel_dev->features |= NETIF_F_NETNS_LOCAL;
 
 	return 0;
 }