diff --git a/net/core/netpoll.c b/net/core/netpoll.c
index 94acfc89ad97..a57bd17805b4 100644
--- a/net/core/netpoll.c
+++ b/net/core/netpoll.c
@@ -603,7 +603,6 @@ int __netpoll_setup(struct netpoll *np, struct net_device *ndev)
 	const struct net_device_ops *ops;
 	int err;
 
-	np->dev = ndev;
 	strlcpy(np->dev_name, ndev->name, IFNAMSIZ);
 	INIT_WORK(&np->cleanup_work, netpoll_async_cleanup);
 
@@ -670,6 +669,7 @@ int netpoll_setup(struct netpoll *np)
 		goto unlock;
 	}
 	dev_hold(ndev);
+	np->dev = ndev;
 
 	if (netdev_master_upper_dev_get(ndev)) {
 		np_err(np, "%s is a slave device, aborting\n", np->dev_name);
@@ -770,6 +770,7 @@ int netpoll_setup(struct netpoll *np)
 	return 0;
 
 put:
+	np->dev = NULL;
 	dev_put(ndev);
 unlock:
 	rtnl_unlock();