diff --git a/mm/mempolicy.c b/mm/mempolicy.c
index b2920ae87a61..977c641f78cf 100644
--- a/mm/mempolicy.c
+++ b/mm/mempolicy.c
@@ -2821,6 +2821,9 @@ int mpol_parse_str(char *str, struct mempolicy **mpol)
 	char *flags = strchr(str, '=');
 	int err = 1, mode;
 
+	if (flags)
+		*flags++ = '\0';	/* terminate mode string */
+
 	if (nodelist) {
 		/* NUL-terminate mode or flags string */
 		*nodelist++ = '\0';
@@ -2831,9 +2834,6 @@ int mpol_parse_str(char *str, struct mempolicy **mpol)
 	} else
 		nodes_clear(nodes);
 
-	if (flags)
-		*flags++ = '\0';	/* terminate mode string */
-
 	mode = match_string(policy_modes, MPOL_MAX, str);
 	if (mode < 0)
 		goto out;