diff --git a/kernel/pid_namespace.c b/kernel/pid_namespace.c
index 2d1001b4858d..495d5dea22b2 100644
--- a/kernel/pid_namespace.c
+++ b/kernel/pid_namespace.c
@@ -67,9 +67,10 @@ err_alloc:
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-static struct pid_namespace *create_pid_namespace(unsigned int level)
+static struct pid_namespace *create_pid_namespace(struct pid_namespace *parent_pid_ns)
 {
 	struct pid_namespace *ns;
+	unsigned int level = parent_pid_ns->level + 1;
 	int i;
 
 	ns = kmem_cache_zalloc(pid_ns_cachep, GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ static struct pid_namespace *create_pid_namespace(unsigned int level)
 
 	kref_init(&ns->kref);
 	ns->level = level;
+	ns->parent = get_pid_ns(parent_pid_ns);
 
 	set_bit(0, ns->pidmap[0].page);
 	atomic_set(&ns->pidmap[0].nr_free, BITS_PER_PAGE - 1);
@@ -125,9 +127,7 @@ struct pid_namespace *copy_pid_ns(unsigned long flags, struct pid_namespace *old
 	if (flags & CLONE_THREAD)
 		goto out_put;
 
-	new_ns = create_pid_namespace(old_ns->level + 1);
-	if (!IS_ERR(new_ns))
-		new_ns->parent = get_pid_ns(old_ns);
+	new_ns = create_pid_namespace(old_ns);
 
 out_put:
 	put_pid_ns(old_ns);