diff --git a/net/ethtool/eeprom.c b/net/ethtool/eeprom.c
index a557e3996c85..836316df3092 100644
--- a/net/ethtool/eeprom.c
+++ b/net/ethtool/eeprom.c
@@ -141,12 +141,11 @@ static int eeprom_prepare_data(const struct ethnl_req_info *req_base,
 	return 0;
 
 err_ops:
+	if (ret == -EOPNOTSUPP)
+		ret = eeprom_fallback(request, reply);
 	ethnl_ops_complete(dev);
 err_free:
 	kfree(page_data.data);
-
-	if (ret == -EOPNOTSUPP)
-		return eeprom_fallback(request, reply);
 	return ret;
 }