diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
index a881510aaac0..0a88ca6bbf97 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
@@ -244,8 +244,14 @@ static struct rtnl_link_ops ovpn_link_ops = {
 
 static int __init ovpn_init(void)
 {
-	int err = rtnl_link_register(&ovpn_link_ops);
+	int err;
 
+	/* init TCP first so that any subsequent netlink operation
+	 * is ensured to access initialized TCP global vars
+	 */
+	ovpn_tcp_init();
+
+	err = rtnl_link_register(&ovpn_link_ops);
 	if (err) {
 		pr_err("ovpn: can't register rtnl link ops: %d\n", err);
 		return err;
@@ -257,8 +263,6 @@ static int __init ovpn_init(void)
 		goto unreg_rtnl;
 	}
 
-	ovpn_tcp_init();
-
 	return 0;
 
 unreg_rtnl: