diff --git a/kernel/posix-timers.c b/kernel/posix-timers.c
index 00d1fda58ab6..ad723420acc3 100644
--- a/kernel/posix-timers.c
+++ b/kernel/posix-timers.c
@@ -559,14 +559,7 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE3(timer_create, const clockid_t, which_clock,
 	new_timer->it_id = (timer_t) new_timer_id;
 	new_timer->it_clock = which_clock;
 	new_timer->it_overrun = -1;
-	error = CLOCK_DISPATCH(which_clock, timer_create, (new_timer));
-	if (error)
-		goto out;
 
-	/*
-	 * return the timer_id now.  The next step is hard to
-	 * back out if there is an error.
-	 */
 	if (copy_to_user(created_timer_id,
 			 &new_timer_id, sizeof (new_timer_id))) {
 		error = -EFAULT;
@@ -597,6 +590,10 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE3(timer_create, const clockid_t, which_clock,
 	new_timer->sigq->info.si_tid   = new_timer->it_id;
 	new_timer->sigq->info.si_code  = SI_TIMER;
 
+	error = CLOCK_DISPATCH(which_clock, timer_create, (new_timer));
+	if (error)
+		goto out;
+
 	spin_lock_irq(&current->sighand->siglock);
 	new_timer->it_signal = current->signal;
 	list_add(&new_timer->list, &current->signal->posix_timers);