diff --git a/kernel/user.c b/kernel/user.c
index 477b6660f447e..3551ac742395c 100644
--- a/kernel/user.c
+++ b/kernel/user.c
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ static void uid_hash_insert(struct user_struct *up, struct hlist_head *hashent)
 static void uid_hash_remove(struct user_struct *up)
 {
 	hlist_del_init(&up->uidhash_node);
+	put_user_ns(up->user_ns);
 }
 
 static struct user_struct *uid_hash_find(uid_t uid, struct hlist_head *hashent)
@@ -334,7 +335,6 @@ static void free_user(struct user_struct *up, unsigned long flags)
 	atomic_inc(&up->__count);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&uidhash_lock, flags);
 
-	put_user_ns(up->user_ns);
 	INIT_WORK(&up->work, remove_user_sysfs_dir);
 	schedule_work(&up->work);
 }
@@ -357,7 +357,6 @@ static void free_user(struct user_struct *up, unsigned long flags)
 	sched_destroy_user(up);
 	key_put(up->uid_keyring);
 	key_put(up->session_keyring);
-	put_user_ns(up->user_ns);
 	kmem_cache_free(uid_cachep, up);
 }