diff --git a/net/bridge/br_multicast.c b/net/bridge/br_multicast.c
index 5391ca43336..6d6f26531de 100644
--- a/net/bridge/br_multicast.c
+++ b/net/bridge/br_multicast.c
@@ -1608,7 +1608,6 @@ void br_multicast_init(struct net_bridge *br)
 		    br_multicast_querier_expired, (unsigned long)br);
 	setup_timer(&br->multicast_query_timer, br_multicast_query_expired,
 		    (unsigned long)br);
-	br_mdb_init();
 }
 
 void br_multicast_open(struct net_bridge *br)
@@ -1633,7 +1632,6 @@ void br_multicast_stop(struct net_bridge *br)
 	del_timer_sync(&br->multicast_querier_timer);
 	del_timer_sync(&br->multicast_query_timer);
 
-	br_mdb_uninit();
 	spin_lock_bh(&br->multicast_lock);
 	mdb = mlock_dereference(br->mdb, br);
 	if (!mdb)
diff --git a/net/bridge/br_netlink.c b/net/bridge/br_netlink.c
index 97ba0189c6f..5dc66abcc9e 100644
--- a/net/bridge/br_netlink.c
+++ b/net/bridge/br_netlink.c
@@ -299,10 +299,21 @@ struct rtnl_link_ops br_link_ops __read_mostly = {
 
 int __init br_netlink_init(void)
 {
-	return rtnl_link_register(&br_link_ops);
+	int err;
+
+	br_mdb_init();
+	err = rtnl_link_register(&br_link_ops);
+	if (err)
+		goto out;
+
+	return 0;
+out:
+	br_mdb_uninit();
+	return err;
 }
 
 void __exit br_netlink_fini(void)
 {
+	br_mdb_uninit();
 	rtnl_link_unregister(&br_link_ops);
 }