diff --git a/sys/netinet6/icmp6.c b/sys/netinet6/icmp6.c
index 2114a0aab52a..1d40f34f48ae 100644
--- a/sys/netinet6/icmp6.c
+++ b/sys/netinet6/icmp6.c
@@ -1851,7 +1851,7 @@ static int
 ni6_store_addrs(struct icmp6_nodeinfo *ni6, struct icmp6_nodeinfo *nni6,
     struct ifnet *ifp0, int resid)
 {
-	struct ifnet *ifp = ifp0 ? ifp0 : TAILQ_FIRST(&V_ifnet);
+	struct ifnet *ifp;
 	struct in6_ifaddr *ifa6;
 	struct ifaddr *ifa;
 	struct ifnet *ifp_dep = NULL;
@@ -1864,6 +1864,7 @@ ni6_store_addrs(struct icmp6_nodeinfo *ni6, struct icmp6_nodeinfo *nni6,
 		return (0);	/* needless to copy */
 
 	IFNET_RLOCK_NOSLEEP();
+	ifp = ifp0 ? ifp0 : TAILQ_FIRST(&V_ifnet);
   again:
 
 	for (; ifp; ifp = TAILQ_NEXT(ifp, if_list)) {