diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
index 9993c1dfe471..c2c3af0c3c55 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
@@ -233,8 +233,14 @@ static struct rtnl_link_ops ovpn_link_ops = {
 
 static int __init ovpn_init(void)
 {
-	int err = rtnl_link_register(&ovpn_link_ops);
+	int err;
 
+	/* initialize the TCP protos before the module is exposed through rtnl
+	 * or netlink
+	 */
+	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;
@@ -246,8 +252,6 @@ static int __init ovpn_init(void)
 		goto unreg_rtnl;
 	}
 
-	ovpn_tcp_init();
-
 	return 0;
 
 unreg_rtnl: