diff --git a/net/atm/clip.c b/net/atm/clip.c
index 294cb9efe3d3820046cd123caf7037eeb0dbe9c4..511467bb7fe40d7b15b51eb7b4bcd505a1b85f2a 100644
--- a/net/atm/clip.c
+++ b/net/atm/clip.c
@@ -193,12 +193,6 @@ static void clip_push(struct atm_vcc *vcc, struct sk_buff *skb)
 
 	pr_debug("\n");
 
-	if (!clip_devs) {
-		atm_return(vcc, skb->truesize);
-		kfree_skb(skb);
-		return;
-	}
-
 	if (!skb) {
 		pr_debug("removing VCC %p\n", clip_vcc);
 		if (clip_vcc->entry)
@@ -208,6 +202,11 @@ static void clip_push(struct atm_vcc *vcc, struct sk_buff *skb)
 		return;
 	}
 	atm_return(vcc, skb->truesize);
+	if (!clip_devs) {
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	skb->dev = clip_vcc->entry ? clip_vcc->entry->neigh->dev : clip_devs;
 	/* clip_vcc->entry == NULL if we don't have an IP address yet */
 	if (!skb->dev) {