diff --git a/drivers/block/nbd.c b/drivers/block/nbd.c
index 7f6ef0a2b4a5..120b75ee703d 100644
--- a/drivers/block/nbd.c
+++ b/drivers/block/nbd.c
@@ -2089,9 +2089,7 @@ static int nbd_genl_connect(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 				goto out;
 		}
 	}
-	ret = nbd_start_device(nbd);
-	if (ret)
-		goto out;
+
 	if (info->attrs[NBD_ATTR_BACKEND_IDENTIFIER]) {
 		nbd->backend = nla_strdup(info->attrs[NBD_ATTR_BACKEND_IDENTIFIER],
 					  GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -2107,6 +2105,8 @@ static int nbd_genl_connect(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 		goto out;
 	}
 	set_bit(NBD_RT_HAS_BACKEND_FILE, &config->runtime_flags);
+
+	ret = nbd_start_device(nbd);
 out:
 	mutex_unlock(&nbd->config_lock);
 	if (!ret) {