diff --git a/net/mptcp/subflow.c b/net/mptcp/subflow.c
index 409bd415ef1d..24c2de1891bd 100644
--- a/net/mptcp/subflow.c
+++ b/net/mptcp/subflow.c
@@ -899,13 +899,17 @@ static struct sock *subflow_syn_recv_sock(const struct sock *sk,
 				goto dispose_child;
 			}
 
-			if (!subflow_hmac_valid(req, &mp_opt) ||
-			    !mptcp_can_accept_new_subflow(subflow_req->msk)) {
+			if (!subflow_hmac_valid(req, &mp_opt)) {
 				SUBFLOW_REQ_INC_STATS(req, MPTCP_MIB_JOINACKMAC);
 				subflow_add_reset_reason(skb, MPTCP_RST_EPROHIBIT);
 				goto dispose_child;
 			}
 
+			if (!mptcp_can_accept_new_subflow(owner)) {
+				subflow_add_reset_reason(skb, MPTCP_RST_EPROHIBIT);
+				goto dispose_child;
+			}
+
 			/* move the msk reference ownership to the subflow */
 			subflow_req->msk = NULL;
 			ctx->conn = (struct sock *)owner;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh
index 13a3b68181ee..befa66f5a366 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh
@@ -1441,6 +1441,15 @@ chk_join_nr()
 		fi
 	fi
 
+	count=$(mptcp_lib_get_counter ${ns2} "MPTcpExtMPJoinSynAckHMacFailure")
+	if [ -z "$count" ]; then
+		rc=${KSFT_SKIP}
+	elif [ "$count" != "0" ]; then
+		rc=${KSFT_FAIL}
+		print_check "synack HMAC"
+		fail_test "got $count JOIN[s] synack HMAC failure expected 0"
+	fi
+
 	count=$(mptcp_lib_get_counter ${ns1} "MPTcpExtMPJoinAckRx")
 	if [ -z "$count" ]; then
 		rc=${KSFT_SKIP}
@@ -1450,6 +1459,15 @@ chk_join_nr()
 		fail_test "got $count JOIN[s] ack rx expected $ack_nr"
 	fi
 
+	count=$(mptcp_lib_get_counter ${ns1} "MPTcpExtMPJoinAckHMacFailure")
+	if [ -z "$count" ]; then
+		rc=${KSFT_SKIP}
+	elif [ "$count" != "0" ]; then
+		rc=${KSFT_FAIL}
+		print_check "ack HMAC"
+		fail_test "got $count JOIN[s] ack HMAC failure expected 0"
+	fi
+
 	print_results "join Rx" ${rc}
 
 	join_syn_tx="${join_syn_tx:-${syn_nr}}" \