diff --git a/mm/slab.c b/mm/slab.c
index 354a09deecff9c..d2c0499c6b15d8 100644
--- a/mm/slab.c
+++ b/mm/slab.c
@@ -566,14 +566,6 @@ static void start_cpu_timer(int cpu)
 
 static void init_arraycache(struct array_cache *ac, int limit, int batch)
 {
-	/*
-	 * The array_cache structures contain pointers to free object.
-	 * However, when such objects are allocated or transferred to another
-	 * cache the pointers are not cleared and they could be counted as
-	 * valid references during a kmemleak scan. Therefore, kmemleak must
-	 * not scan such objects.
-	 */
-	kmemleak_no_scan(ac);
 	if (ac) {
 		ac->avail = 0;
 		ac->limit = limit;
@@ -589,6 +581,14 @@ static struct array_cache *alloc_arraycache(int node, int entries,
 	struct array_cache *ac = NULL;
 
 	ac = kmalloc_node(memsize, gfp, node);
+	/*
+	 * The array_cache structures contain pointers to free object.
+	 * However, when such objects are allocated or transferred to another
+	 * cache the pointers are not cleared and they could be counted as
+	 * valid references during a kmemleak scan. Therefore, kmemleak must
+	 * not scan such objects.
+	 */
+	kmemleak_no_scan(ac);
 	init_arraycache(ac, entries, batchcount);
 	return ac;
 }
@@ -683,6 +683,7 @@ static struct alien_cache *__alloc_alien_cache(int node, int entries,
 
 	alc = kmalloc_node(memsize, gfp, node);
 	if (alc) {
+		kmemleak_no_scan(alc);
 		init_arraycache(&alc->ac, entries, batch);
 		spin_lock_init(&alc->lock);
 	}