diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 8ca49a0e13fb3..9a1ba2015ad89 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -2936,7 +2936,7 @@ static int rtnl_newlink(struct sk_buff *skb, struct nlmsghdr *nlh,
 		}
 
 		if (m_ops) {
-			if (ops->slave_maxtype > RTNL_SLAVE_MAX_TYPE)
+			if (m_ops->slave_maxtype > RTNL_SLAVE_MAX_TYPE)
 				return -EINVAL;
 
 			if (m_ops->slave_maxtype &&