diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 9a1ba2015ad890..5ef61222fdef1f 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -2266,6 +2266,10 @@ static int do_setlink(const struct sk_buff *skb,
 	const struct net_device_ops *ops = dev->netdev_ops;
 	int err;
 
+	err = validate_linkmsg(dev, tb);
+	if (err < 0)
+		return err;
+
 	if (tb[IFLA_NET_NS_PID] || tb[IFLA_NET_NS_FD] || tb[IFLA_IF_NETNSID]) {
 		struct net *net = rtnl_link_get_net_capable(skb, dev_net(dev),
 							    tb, CAP_NET_ADMIN);
@@ -2629,10 +2633,6 @@ static int rtnl_setlink(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		goto errout;
 	}
 
-	err = validate_linkmsg(dev, tb);
-	if (err < 0)
-		goto errout;
-
 	err = do_setlink(skb, dev, ifm, extack, tb, ifname, 0);
 errout:
 	return err;