diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/tdp_mmu.c b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/tdp_mmu.c
index 771210ce518112..84b0b225fe5f52 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/tdp_mmu.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/mmu/tdp_mmu.c
@@ -1173,9 +1173,6 @@ int kvm_tdp_mmu_map(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, struct kvm_page_fault *fault)
 		if (fault->nx_huge_page_workaround_enabled)
 			disallowed_hugepage_adjust(fault, iter.old_spte, iter.level);
 
-		if (iter.level == fault->goal_level)
-			break;
-
 		/*
 		 * If SPTE has been frozen by another thread, just give up and
 		 * retry, avoiding unnecessary page table allocation and free.
@@ -1183,6 +1180,9 @@ int kvm_tdp_mmu_map(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, struct kvm_page_fault *fault)
 		if (is_removed_spte(iter.old_spte))
 			goto retry;
 
+		if (iter.level == fault->goal_level)
+			break;
+
 		/* Step down into the lower level page table if it exists. */
 		if (is_shadow_present_pte(iter.old_spte) &&
 		    !is_large_pte(iter.old_spte))