diff --git a/fs/binfmt_misc.c b/fs/binfmt_misc.c
index cdb45829354d..056a68292e15 100644
--- a/fs/binfmt_misc.c
+++ b/fs/binfmt_misc.c
@@ -696,12 +696,24 @@ static ssize_t bm_register_write(struct file *file, const char __user *buffer,
 	struct super_block *sb = file_inode(file)->i_sb;
 	struct dentry *root = sb->s_root, *dentry;
 	int err = 0;
+	struct file *f = NULL;
 
 	e = create_entry(buffer, count);
 
 	if (IS_ERR(e))
 		return PTR_ERR(e);
 
+	if (e->flags & MISC_FMT_OPEN_FILE) {
+		f = open_exec(e->interpreter);
+		if (IS_ERR(f)) {
+			pr_notice("register: failed to install interpreter file %s\n",
+				 e->interpreter);
+			kfree(e);
+			return PTR_ERR(f);
+		}
+		e->interp_file = f;
+	}
+
 	inode_lock(d_inode(root));
 	dentry = lookup_one_len(e->name, root, strlen(e->name));
 	err = PTR_ERR(dentry);
@@ -725,21 +737,6 @@ static ssize_t bm_register_write(struct file *file, const char __user *buffer,
 		goto out2;
 	}
 
-	if (e->flags & MISC_FMT_OPEN_FILE) {
-		struct file *f;
-
-		f = open_exec(e->interpreter);
-		if (IS_ERR(f)) {
-			err = PTR_ERR(f);
-			pr_notice("register: failed to install interpreter file %s\n", e->interpreter);
-			simple_release_fs(&bm_mnt, &entry_count);
-			iput(inode);
-			inode = NULL;
-			goto out2;
-		}
-		e->interp_file = f;
-	}
-
 	e->dentry = dget(dentry);
 	inode->i_private = e;
 	inode->i_fop = &bm_entry_operations;
@@ -756,6 +753,8 @@ out:
 	inode_unlock(d_inode(root));
 
 	if (err) {
+		if (f)
+			filp_close(f, NULL);
 		kfree(e);
 		return err;
 	}