diff --git a/sys/net/if_bridge.c b/sys/net/if_bridge.c
index 359d7ddf17c..5615a5b74ed 100644
--- a/sys/net/if_bridge.c
+++ b/sys/net/if_bridge.c
@@ -532,13 +532,13 @@ bridge_clone_create(struct if_clone *ifc, int unit, caddr_t params)
 	int retry;
 
 	sc = malloc(sizeof(*sc), M_DEVBUF, M_WAITOK|M_ZERO);
-	BRIDGE_LOCK_INIT(sc);
 	ifp = sc->sc_ifp = if_alloc(IFT_ETHER);
 	if (ifp == NULL) {
 		free(sc, M_DEVBUF);
 		return (ENOSPC);
 	}
 
+	BRIDGE_LOCK_INIT(sc);
 	sc->sc_brtmax = BRIDGE_RTABLE_MAX;
 	sc->sc_brttimeout = BRIDGE_RTABLE_TIMEOUT;