diff --git a/net/core/scm.c b/net/core/scm.c
index 0225bd94170f..045ab5bdac7d 100644
--- a/net/core/scm.c
+++ b/net/core/scm.c
@@ -145,6 +145,16 @@ void __scm_destroy(struct scm_cookie *scm)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__scm_destroy);
 
+static inline int scm_replace_pid(struct scm_cookie *scm, struct pid *pid)
+{
+	/* drop all previous references */
+	scm_destroy_cred(scm);
+
+	scm->pid = pid;
+	scm->creds.pid = pid_vnr(pid);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 int __scm_send(struct socket *sock, struct msghdr *msg, struct scm_cookie *p)
 {
 	const struct proto_ops *ops = READ_ONCE(sock->ops);
@@ -189,15 +199,21 @@ int __scm_send(struct socket *sock, struct msghdr *msg, struct scm_cookie *p)
 			if (err)
 				goto error;
 
-			p->creds.pid = creds.pid;
 			if (!p->pid || pid_vnr(p->pid) != creds.pid) {
 				struct pid *pid;
 				err = -ESRCH;
 				pid = find_get_pid(creds.pid);
 				if (!pid)
 					goto error;
-				put_pid(p->pid);
-				p->pid = pid;
+
+				/* pass a struct pid reference from
+				 * find_get_pid() to scm_replace_pid().
+				 */
+				err = scm_replace_pid(p, pid);
+				if (err) {
+					put_pid(pid);
+					goto error;
+				}
 			}
 
 			err = -EINVAL;