diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
index b4abd6850367..396493cc98ce 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
@@ -5478,11 +5478,10 @@ int ata_device_add(const struct ata_probe_ent *ent)
 		int irq_line = ent->irq;
 
 		ap = ata_port_add(ent, host, i);
+		host->ports[i] = ap;
 		if (!ap)
 			goto err_out;
 
-		host->ports[i] = ap;
-
 		/* dummy? */
 		if (ent->dummy_port_mask & (1 << i)) {
 			ata_port_printk(ap, KERN_INFO, "DUMMY\n");