diff --git a/net/ipv6/route.c b/net/ipv6/route.c
index e202a3ac60d7..8747f8335343 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/route.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/route.c
@@ -376,6 +376,7 @@ static void ip6_dst_ifdown(struct dst_entry *dst, struct net_device *dev)
 {
 	struct rt6_info *rt = dst_rt6_info(dst);
 	struct inet6_dev *idev = rt->rt6i_idev;
+	struct fib6_info *from;
 
 	if (idev && idev->dev != blackhole_netdev) {
 		struct inet6_dev *blackhole_idev = in6_dev_get(blackhole_netdev);
@@ -385,6 +386,8 @@ static void ip6_dst_ifdown(struct dst_entry *dst, struct net_device *dev)
 			in6_dev_put(idev);
 		}
 	}
+	from = unrcu_pointer(xchg(&rt->from, NULL));
+	fib6_info_release(from);
 }
 
 static bool __rt6_check_expired(const struct rt6_info *rt)
@@ -1447,7 +1450,6 @@ static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(rt6_exception_lock);
 static void rt6_remove_exception(struct rt6_exception_bucket *bucket,
 				 struct rt6_exception *rt6_ex)
 {
-	struct fib6_info *from;
 	struct net *net;
 
 	if (!bucket || !rt6_ex)
@@ -1459,8 +1461,6 @@ static void rt6_remove_exception(struct rt6_exception_bucket *bucket,
 	/* purge completely the exception to allow releasing the held resources:
 	 * some [sk] cache may keep the dst around for unlimited time
 	 */
-	from = unrcu_pointer(xchg(&rt6_ex->rt6i->from, NULL));
-	fib6_info_release(from);
 	dst_dev_put(&rt6_ex->rt6i->dst);
 
 	hlist_del_rcu(&rt6_ex->hlist);