diff --git a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
index f4e23b543585..dd0b4d80e0f8 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/addrconf.c
@@ -3625,12 +3625,12 @@ static void addrconf_permanent_addr(struct net *net, struct net_device *dev)
 		if ((ifp->flags & IFA_F_PERMANENT) &&
 		    fixup_permanent_addr(net, idev, ifp) < 0) {
 			write_unlock_bh(&idev->lock);
-			in6_ifa_hold(ifp);
-			ipv6_del_addr(ifp);
-			write_lock_bh(&idev->lock);
 
 			net_info_ratelimited("%s: Failed to add prefix route for address %pI6c; dropping\n",
 					     idev->dev->name, &ifp->addr);
+			in6_ifa_hold(ifp);
+			ipv6_del_addr(ifp);
+			write_lock_bh(&idev->lock);
 		}
 	}