diff --git a/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c b/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
index 29ec3ef63edc7a6b59b37bd0eb5e95b25e32bf57..0b37ffe0449ac3f0575a5a0fa9fd574926a4c282 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_ctl.c
@@ -1384,18 +1384,18 @@ ip_vs_add_service(struct netns_ipvs *ipvs, struct ip_vs_service_user_kern *u,
 		sched = NULL;
 	}
 
-	/* Bind the ct retriever */
-	RCU_INIT_POINTER(svc->pe, pe);
-	pe = NULL;
-
 	/* Update the virtual service counters */
 	if (svc->port == FTPPORT)
 		atomic_inc(&ipvs->ftpsvc_counter);
 	else if (svc->port == 0)
 		atomic_inc(&ipvs->nullsvc_counter);
-	if (svc->pe && svc->pe->conn_out)
+	if (pe && pe->conn_out)
 		atomic_inc(&ipvs->conn_out_counter);
 
+	/* Bind the ct retriever */
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(svc->pe, pe);
+	pe = NULL;
+
 	ip_vs_start_estimator(ipvs, &svc->stats);
 
 	/* Count only IPv4 services for old get/setsockopt interface */