diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_pool.c b/drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_pool.c
index c8598b91e454..36b53fb94a49 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_pool.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_pool.c
@@ -450,13 +450,12 @@ void *rxe_pool_get_index(struct rxe_pool *pool, u32 index)
 			node = node->rb_left;
 		else if (elem->index < index)
 			node = node->rb_right;
-		else
+		else {
+			kref_get(&elem->ref_cnt);
 			break;
+		}
 	}
 
-	if (node)
-		kref_get(&elem->ref_cnt);
-
 out:
 	read_unlock_irqrestore(&pool->pool_lock, flags);
 	return node ? elem : NULL;