diff --git a/drivers/net/tap.c b/drivers/net/tap.c
index fae115915c8e..5d2d34d24ce8 100644
--- a/drivers/net/tap.c
+++ b/drivers/net/tap.c
@@ -1074,10 +1074,21 @@ static int tap_get_user_xdp(struct tap_queue *q, struct xdp_buff *xdp)
 	skb_reset_mac_header(skb);
 	skb->protocol = eth_hdr(skb)->h_proto;
 
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	tap = rcu_dereference(q->tap);
+	if (!tap) {
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+		rcu_read_unlock();
+		return 0;
+	}
+	skb->dev = tap->dev;
+
 	if (vnet_hdr_len) {
 		err = tun_vnet_hdr_to_skb(q->flags, skb, gso);
-		if (err)
+		if (err) {
+			rcu_read_unlock();
 			goto err_kfree;
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* Move network header to the right position for VLAN tagged packets */
@@ -1085,15 +1096,8 @@ static int tap_get_user_xdp(struct tap_queue *q, struct xdp_buff *xdp)
 	    vlan_get_protocol_and_depth(skb, skb->protocol, &depth) != 0)
 		skb_set_network_header(skb, depth);
 
-	rcu_read_lock();
-	tap = rcu_dereference(q->tap);
-	if (tap) {
-		skb->dev = tap->dev;
-		skb_probe_transport_header(skb);
-		dev_queue_xmit(skb);
-	} else {
-		kfree_skb(skb);
-	}
+	skb_probe_transport_header(skb);
+	dev_queue_xmit(skb);
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 
 	return 0;