diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index 2a9926275f80..38b136553044 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -2699,13 +2699,14 @@ static int cgroup_add_file(struct cgroup *cgrp, struct cgroup_subsys *subsys,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	cfe->type = (void *)cft;
+	cfe->dentry = dentry;
+	dentry->d_fsdata = cfe;
+	simple_xattrs_init(&cfe->xattrs);
+
 	mode = cgroup_file_mode(cft);
 	error = cgroup_create_file(dentry, mode | S_IFREG, cgrp->root->sb);
 	if (!error) {
-		cfe->type = (void *)cft;
-		cfe->dentry = dentry;
-		dentry->d_fsdata = cfe;
-		simple_xattrs_init(&cfe->xattrs);
 		list_add_tail(&cfe->node, &parent->files);
 		cfe = NULL;
 	}