diff --git a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
index a12ae26db0e2..e9ee4fd5fe5f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
+++ b/drivers/net/virtio_net.c
@@ -1249,6 +1249,9 @@ static struct sk_buff *receive_mergeable(struct net_device *dev,
 			if (!xdp_page)
 				goto err_xdp;
 			offset = VIRTIO_XDP_HEADROOM;
+
+			put_page(page);
+			page = xdp_page;
 		} else if (unlikely(headroom < virtnet_get_headroom(vi))) {
 			xdp_room = SKB_DATA_ALIGN(VIRTIO_XDP_HEADROOM +
 						  sizeof(struct skb_shared_info));
@@ -1263,11 +1266,12 @@ static struct sk_buff *receive_mergeable(struct net_device *dev,
 			       page_address(page) + offset, len);
 			frame_sz = PAGE_SIZE;
 			offset = VIRTIO_XDP_HEADROOM;
-		} else {
-			xdp_page = page;
+
+			put_page(page);
+			page = xdp_page;
 		}
 
-		data = page_address(xdp_page) + offset;
+		data = page_address(page) + offset;
 		err = virtnet_build_xdp_buff_mrg(dev, vi, rq, &xdp, data, len, frame_sz,
 						 &num_buf, &xdp_frags_truesz, stats);
 		if (unlikely(err))
@@ -1282,8 +1286,6 @@ static struct sk_buff *receive_mergeable(struct net_device *dev,
 			if (unlikely(!head_skb))
 				goto err_xdp_frags;
 
-			if (unlikely(xdp_page != page))
-				put_page(page);
 			rcu_read_unlock();
 			return head_skb;
 		case XDP_TX:
@@ -1301,8 +1303,6 @@ static struct sk_buff *receive_mergeable(struct net_device *dev,
 				goto err_xdp_frags;
 			}
 			*xdp_xmit |= VIRTIO_XDP_TX;
-			if (unlikely(xdp_page != page))
-				put_page(page);
 			rcu_read_unlock();
 			goto xdp_xmit;
 		case XDP_REDIRECT:
@@ -1311,8 +1311,6 @@ static struct sk_buff *receive_mergeable(struct net_device *dev,
 			if (err)
 				goto err_xdp_frags;
 			*xdp_xmit |= VIRTIO_XDP_REDIR;
-			if (unlikely(xdp_page != page))
-				put_page(page);
 			rcu_read_unlock();
 			goto xdp_xmit;
 		default:
@@ -1325,9 +1323,6 @@ static struct sk_buff *receive_mergeable(struct net_device *dev,
 			goto err_xdp_frags;
 		}
 err_xdp_frags:
-		if (unlikely(xdp_page != page))
-			__free_pages(xdp_page, 0);
-
 		if (xdp_buff_has_frags(&xdp)) {
 			shinfo = xdp_get_shared_info_from_buff(&xdp);
 			for (i = 0; i < shinfo->nr_frags; i++) {