diff --git a/mm/mempolicy.c b/mm/mempolicy.c
index b73d3248d976..ff6a88114bb8 100644
--- a/mm/mempolicy.c
+++ b/mm/mempolicy.c
@@ -853,12 +853,14 @@ static long do_set_mempolicy(unsigned short mode, unsigned short flags,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	task_lock(current);
 	ret = mpol_set_nodemask(new, nodes, scratch);
 	if (ret) {
+		task_unlock(current);
 		mpol_put(new);
 		goto out;
 	}
-	task_lock(current);
+
 	old = current->mempolicy;
 	current->mempolicy = new;
 	if (new && new->mode == MPOL_INTERLEAVE)