diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/configfs.c b/drivers/nvme/target/configfs.c
index 6286e38436dd..b03b5d1c2dc3 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/configfs.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/configfs.c
@@ -534,6 +534,7 @@ static ssize_t nvmet_ns_device_path_store(struct config_item *item,
 	struct nvmet_subsys *subsys = ns->subsys;
 	size_t len;
 	int ret;
+	char *new_path = NULL;
 
 	mutex_lock(&subsys->lock);
 	ret = -EBUSY;
@@ -545,12 +546,14 @@ static ssize_t nvmet_ns_device_path_store(struct config_item *item,
 	if (!len)
 		goto out_unlock;
 
-	kfree(ns->device_path);
 	ret = -ENOMEM;
-	ns->device_path = kmemdup_nul(page, len, GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!ns->device_path)
+	new_path = kmemdup_nul(page, len, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!new_path)
 		goto out_unlock;
 
+	kfree(ns->device_path);
+	ns->device_path = new_path;
+
 	mutex_unlock(&subsys->lock);
 	return count;