diff --git a/net/tipc/link.c b/net/tipc/link.c
index 5adfdfd..1d674e0 100644
--- a/net/tipc/link.c
+++ b/net/tipc/link.c
@@ -423,6 +423,17 @@
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
+	if (LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE) {
+		char *pb = kmalloc(LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE, GFP_ATOMIC);
+
+		if (!pb) {
+			kfree(l_ptr);
+			warn("Link creation failed, no memory for print buffer\n");
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		tipc_printbuf_init(&l_ptr->print_buf, pb, LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE);
+	}
+
 	l_ptr->addr = peer;
 	if_name = strchr(b_ptr->publ.name, ':') + 1;
 	sprintf(l_ptr->name, "%u.%u.%u:%s-%u.%u.%u:",
@@ -432,8 +443,6 @@
 		tipc_zone(peer), tipc_cluster(peer), tipc_node(peer));
 		/* note: peer i/f is appended to link name by reset/activate */
 	memcpy(&l_ptr->media_addr, media_addr, sizeof(*media_addr));
-	k_init_timer(&l_ptr->timer, (Handler)link_timeout, (unsigned long)l_ptr);
-	list_add_tail(&l_ptr->link_list, &b_ptr->links);
 	l_ptr->checkpoint = 1;
 	l_ptr->b_ptr = b_ptr;
 	link_set_supervision_props(l_ptr, b_ptr->media->tolerance);
@@ -459,21 +468,14 @@
 
 	l_ptr->owner = tipc_node_attach_link(l_ptr);
 	if (!l_ptr->owner) {
+		if (LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE)
+			kfree(l_ptr->print_buf.buf);
 		kfree(l_ptr);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE) {
-		char *pb = kmalloc(LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE, GFP_ATOMIC);
-
-		if (!pb) {
-			kfree(l_ptr);
-			warn("Link creation failed, no memory for print buffer\n");
-			return NULL;
-		}
-		tipc_printbuf_init(&l_ptr->print_buf, pb, LINK_LOG_BUF_SIZE);
-	}
-
+	k_init_timer(&l_ptr->timer, (Handler)link_timeout, (unsigned long)l_ptr);
+	list_add_tail(&l_ptr->link_list, &b_ptr->links);
 	tipc_k_signal((Handler)tipc_link_start, (unsigned long)l_ptr);
 
 	dbg("tipc_link_create(): tolerance = %u,cont intv = %u, abort_limit = %u\n",