diff --git a/drivers/net/tap.c b/drivers/net/tap.c
index c3d42062559d..9e75ed3f08ce 100644
--- a/drivers/net/tap.c
+++ b/drivers/net/tap.c
@@ -716,10 +716,20 @@ static ssize_t tap_get_user(struct tap_queue *q, void *msg_control,
 	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 total_len;
+	}
+	skb->dev = tap->dev;
+
 	if (vnet_hdr_len) {
 		err = virtio_net_hdr_to_skb(skb, &vnet_hdr,
 					    tap_is_little_endian(q));
 		if (err) {
+			rcu_read_unlock();
 			drop_reason = SKB_DROP_REASON_DEV_HDR;
 			goto err_kfree;
 		}
@@ -732,8 +742,6 @@ static ssize_t tap_get_user(struct tap_queue *q, void *msg_control,
 	    __vlan_get_protocol(skb, skb->protocol, &depth) != 0)
 		skb_set_network_header(skb, depth);
 
-	rcu_read_lock();
-	tap = rcu_dereference(q->tap);
 	/* copy skb_ubuf_info for callback when skb has no error */
 	if (zerocopy) {
 		skb_zcopy_init(skb, msg_control);
@@ -742,14 +750,8 @@ static ssize_t tap_get_user(struct tap_queue *q, void *msg_control,
 		uarg->callback(NULL, uarg, false);
 	}
 
-	if (tap) {
-		skb->dev = tap->dev;
-		dev_queue_xmit(skb);
-	} else {
-		kfree_skb(skb);
-	}
+	dev_queue_xmit(skb);
 	rcu_read_unlock();
-
 	return total_len;
 
 err_kfree: