diff --git a/fs/char_dev.c b/fs/char_dev.c
index d18cad28c1c3..00dfe17871ac 100644
--- a/fs/char_dev.c
+++ b/fs/char_dev.c
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ __register_chrdev_region(unsigned int major, unsigned int baseminor,
 			   int minorct, const char *name)
 {
 	struct char_device_struct *cd, *curr, *prev = NULL;
-	int ret = -EBUSY;
+	int ret;
 	int i;
 
 	if (major >= CHRDEV_MAJOR_MAX) {
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ __register_chrdev_region(unsigned int major, unsigned int baseminor,
 		major = ret;
 	}
 
+	ret = -EBUSY;
 	i = major_to_index(major);
 	for (curr = chrdevs[i]; curr; prev = curr, curr = curr->next) {
 		if (curr->major < major)