diff --git a/include/net/rtnetlink.h b/include/net/rtnetlink.h
index 74eff5259b36..02b0636a4523 100644
--- a/include/net/rtnetlink.h
+++ b/include/net/rtnetlink.h
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ enum rtnl_kinds {
 	RTNL_KIND_GET,
 	RTNL_KIND_SET
 };
+#define RTNL_KIND_MASK 0x3
+
+static inline enum rtnl_kinds rtnl_msgtype_kind(int msgtype)
+{
+	return msgtype & RTNL_KIND_MASK;
+}
 
 void rtnl_register(int protocol, int msgtype,
 		   rtnl_doit_func, rtnl_dumpit_func, unsigned int flags);
diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 2cdb07dd263b..b41f31a09a7c 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -5212,7 +5212,7 @@ static int rtnetlink_rcv_msg(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		return 0;
 
 	family = ((struct rtgenmsg *)nlmsg_data(nlh))->rtgen_family;
-	kind = type&3;
+	kind = rtnl_msgtype_kind(type);
 
 	if (kind != RTNL_KIND_GET && !netlink_net_capable(skb, CAP_NET_ADMIN))
 		return -EPERM;