diff --git a/mm/mmap.c b/mm/mmap.c
index 22e1a0b2f70c..09ce2cae07ca 100644
--- a/mm/mmap.c
+++ b/mm/mmap.c
@@ -1266,8 +1266,9 @@ munmap_back:
 	vma->vm_pgoff = pgoff;
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&vma->anon_vma_chain);
 
+	error = -EINVAL;	/* when rejecting VM_GROWSDOWN|VM_GROWSUP */
+
 	if (file) {
-		error = -EINVAL;
 		if (vm_flags & (VM_GROWSDOWN|VM_GROWSUP))
 			goto free_vma;
 		if (vm_flags & VM_DENYWRITE) {