diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
index b1281b8654bd..c21edf51e99f 100644
--- a/mm/slub.c
+++ b/mm/slub.c
@@ -4890,6 +4890,9 @@ __kmem_cache_alias(const char *name, unsigned int size, unsigned int align,
 
 	s = find_mergeable(size, align, flags, name, ctor);
 	if (s) {
+		if (sysfs_slab_alias(s, name))
+			return NULL;
+
 		s->refcount++;
 
 		/*
@@ -4898,11 +4901,6 @@ __kmem_cache_alias(const char *name, unsigned int size, unsigned int align,
 		 */
 		s->object_size = max(s->object_size, size);
 		s->inuse = max(s->inuse, ALIGN(size, sizeof(void *)));
-
-		if (sysfs_slab_alias(s, name)) {
-			s->refcount--;
-			s = NULL;
-		}
 	}
 
 	return s;