diff --git a/net/core/fib_rules.c b/net/core/fib_rules.c
index bb26457e8c21..be4629c344a6 100644
--- a/net/core/fib_rules.c
+++ b/net/core/fib_rules.c
@@ -429,9 +429,9 @@ int fib_nl_newrule(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh)
 	if (rule->l3mdev && rule->table)
 		goto errout_free;
 
-	if (rule_exists(ops, frh, tb, rule)) {
-		if (nlh->nlmsg_flags & NLM_F_EXCL)
-			err = -EEXIST;
+	if ((nlh->nlmsg_flags & NLM_F_EXCL) &&
+	    rule_exists(ops, frh, tb, rule)) {
+		err = -EEXIST;
 		goto errout_free;
 	}