diff --git a/net/core/net-sysfs.c b/net/core/net-sysfs.c
index c476f0794132..bb7e80f4ced3 100644
--- a/net/core/net-sysfs.c
+++ b/net/core/net-sysfs.c
@@ -1214,9 +1214,6 @@ static ssize_t xps_cpus_show(struct netdev_queue *queue,
 	cpumask_var_t mask;
 	unsigned long index;
 
-	if (!zalloc_cpumask_var(&mask, GFP_KERNEL))
-		return -ENOMEM;
-
 	index = get_netdev_queue_index(queue);
 
 	if (dev->num_tc) {
@@ -1226,6 +1223,9 @@ static ssize_t xps_cpus_show(struct netdev_queue *queue,
 			return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	if (!zalloc_cpumask_var(&mask, GFP_KERNEL))
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	dev_maps = rcu_dereference(dev->xps_maps);
 	if (dev_maps) {