diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/cdc_eem.c b/drivers/net/usb/cdc_eem.c
index 61ea4eaace5d0ae78a9613555562c248de0de977..e3f108080af12e85753af2a380ab9d29140493e9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/usb/cdc_eem.c
+++ b/drivers/net/usb/cdc_eem.c
@@ -135,10 +135,10 @@ static struct sk_buff *eem_tx_fixup(struct usbnet *dev, struct sk_buff *skb,
 	}
 
 	skb2 = skb_copy_expand(skb, EEM_HEAD, ETH_FCS_LEN + padlen, flags);
+	dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
 	if (!skb2)
 		return NULL;
 
-	dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
 	skb = skb2;
 
 done: