diff --git a/net/ipv4/ipmr.c b/net/ipv4/ipmr.c
index 8b65a12..26ca2f2 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/ipmr.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/ipmr.c
@@ -1618,8 +1618,8 @@
 			.fl4_tos = RT_TOS(iph->tos),
 			.proto = IPPROTO_IPIP
 		};
-
-		if (ip_route_output_key(net, &rt, &fl))
+		rt = ip_route_output_key(net, &fl);
+		if (IS_ERR(rt))
 			goto out_free;
 		encap = sizeof(struct iphdr);
 	} else {
@@ -1629,8 +1629,8 @@
 			.fl4_tos = RT_TOS(iph->tos),
 			.proto = IPPROTO_IPIP
 		};
-
-		if (ip_route_output_key(net, &rt, &fl))
+		rt = ip_route_output_key(net, &fl);
+		if (IS_ERR(rt))
 			goto out_free;
 	}