diff --git a/net/core/fib_rules.c b/net/core/fib_rules.c
index 18f8dd8329ed..43f0115cce9c 100644
--- a/net/core/fib_rules.c
+++ b/net/core/fib_rules.c
@@ -757,9 +757,9 @@ int fib_nl_newrule(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 	if (err)
 		goto errout;
 
-	if ((nlh->nlmsg_flags & NLM_F_EXCL) &&
-	    rule_exists(ops, frh, tb, rule)) {
-		err = -EEXIST;
+	if (rule_exists(ops, frh, tb, rule)) {
+		if (nlh->nlmsg_flags & NLM_F_EXCL)
+			err = -EEXIST;
 		goto errout_free;
 	}