diff --git a/net/core/fib_rules.c b/net/core/fib_rules.c
index c4ecd9f75a47f1..a0093e1b023535 100644
--- a/net/core/fib_rules.c
+++ b/net/core/fib_rules.c
@@ -517,7 +517,7 @@ int fib_nl_newrule(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		last = r;
 	}
 
-	fib_rule_get(rule);
+	refcount_set(&rule->refcnt, 1);
 
 	if (last)
 		list_add_rcu(&rule->list, &last->list);