diff --git a/include/net/sock.h b/include/net/sock.h
index 0e962d8bc73b1..2fc513aa114c0 100644
--- a/include/net/sock.h
+++ b/include/net/sock.h
@@ -2266,8 +2266,13 @@ struct sk_buff *sock_dequeue_err_skb(struct sock *sk);
 static inline int sock_error(struct sock *sk)
 {
 	int err;
-	if (likely(!sk->sk_err))
+
+	/* Avoid an atomic operation for the common case.
+	 * This is racy since another cpu/thread can change sk_err under us.
+	 */
+	if (likely(data_race(!sk->sk_err)))
 		return 0;
+
 	err = xchg(&sk->sk_err, 0);
 	return -err;
 }