diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index f1338734c2ee..2b7ad5cf8fbf 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -3823,8 +3823,8 @@ static int rtnl_fdb_del(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 	struct ndmsg *ndm;
 	struct nlattr *tb[NDA_MAX+1];
 	struct net_device *dev;
+	int err = -EINVAL;
 	__u8 *addr;
-	int err;
 	u16 vid;
 
 	if (!netlink_capable(skb, CAP_NET_ADMIN))