diff --git a/net/core/fib_rules.c b/net/core/fib_rules.c
index 9a6d97c1d810..5229d1cf51fd 100644
--- a/net/core/fib_rules.c
+++ b/net/core/fib_rules.c
@@ -563,9 +563,9 @@ int fib_nl_newrule(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		rule->uid_range = fib_kuid_range_unset;
 	}
 
-	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;
 	}