diff --git a/net/rds/ib_cm.c b/net/rds/ib_cm.c
index 4feb0edc360c..6e3110a04ae6 100644
--- a/net/rds/ib_cm.c
+++ b/net/rds/ib_cm.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ void rds_ib_cm_connect_complete(struct rds_connection *conn, struct rdma_cm_even
 				  &conn->c_laddr, &conn->c_faddr,
 				  RDS_PROTOCOL_MAJOR(conn->c_version),
 				  RDS_PROTOCOL_MINOR(conn->c_version));
-			rds_conn_destroy(conn);
+			rds_conn_drop(conn);
 			return;
 		}
 	}