diff --git a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
index 7db09c3f5289..e7a5f17d5e95 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ip6_output.c
@@ -218,8 +218,7 @@ int ip6_xmit(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb, struct flowi *fl,
 			}
 			kfree_skb(skb);
 			skb = skb2;
-			if (sk)
-				skb_set_owner_w(skb, sk);
+			skb_set_owner_w(skb, sk);
 		}
 		if (opt->opt_flen)
 			ipv6_push_frag_opts(skb, opt, &proto);