diff --git a/arch/um/drivers/ubd_kern.c b/arch/um/drivers/ubd_kern.c
index aff661fe2ee1de6cee57f58c9f9d72fb1323dde5..0eabe73c964dc04732baa35cfaec864e34b41599 100644
--- a/arch/um/drivers/ubd_kern.c
+++ b/arch/um/drivers/ubd_kern.c
@@ -612,6 +612,8 @@ static int ubd_open_dev(struct ubd *ubd_dev)
 	ubd_dev->fd = fd;
 
 	if(ubd_dev->cow.file != NULL){
+		blk_queue_max_sectors(ubd_dev->queue, 8 * sizeof(long));
+
 		err = -ENOMEM;
 		ubd_dev->cow.bitmap = (void *) vmalloc(ubd_dev->cow.bitmap_len);
 		if(ubd_dev->cow.bitmap == NULL){
@@ -712,8 +714,6 @@ static int ubd_add(int n, char **error_out)
 	ubd_dev->queue->queuedata = ubd_dev;
 
 	blk_queue_max_hw_segments(ubd_dev->queue, MAX_SG);
-	if(ubd_dev->cow.file != NULL)
-		blk_queue_max_sectors(ubd_dev->queue, 8 * sizeof(long));
 	err = ubd_disk_register(MAJOR_NR, ubd_dev->size, n, &ubd_gendisk[n]);
 	if(err){
 		*error_out = "Failed to register device";