diff --git a/net/mac80211/tx.c b/net/mac80211/tx.c
index 0d7381679a5c..b4a84146de0c 100644
--- a/net/mac80211/tx.c
+++ b/net/mac80211/tx.c
@@ -1784,16 +1784,16 @@ netdev_tx_t ieee80211_subif_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb,
 			break;
 		/* fall through */
 	case NL80211_IFTYPE_AP:
+		if (sdata->vif.type == NL80211_IFTYPE_AP)
+			chanctx_conf = rcu_dereference(sdata->vif.chanctx_conf);
+		if (!chanctx_conf)
+			goto fail_rcu;
 		fc |= cpu_to_le16(IEEE80211_FCTL_FROMDS);
 		/* DA BSSID SA */
 		memcpy(hdr.addr1, skb->data, ETH_ALEN);
 		memcpy(hdr.addr2, sdata->vif.addr, ETH_ALEN);
 		memcpy(hdr.addr3, skb->data + ETH_ALEN, ETH_ALEN);
 		hdrlen = 24;
-		if (sdata->vif.type == NL80211_IFTYPE_AP)
-			chanctx_conf = rcu_dereference(sdata->vif.chanctx_conf);
-		if (!chanctx_conf)
-			goto fail_rcu;
 		band = chanctx_conf->def.chan->band;
 		break;
 	case NL80211_IFTYPE_WDS: