diff --git a/fs/jfs/xattr.c b/fs/jfs/xattr.c
index c60f3d3..a09c526 100644
--- a/fs/jfs/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/jfs/xattr.c
@@ -493,14 +493,14 @@ static int ea_get(struct inode *inode, struct ea_buffer *ea_buf, int min_size)
                 * To keep the rest of the code simple.  Allocate a
                 * contiguous buffer to work with
                 */
-               ea_buf->xattr = kmalloc(size, GFP_KERNEL);
+               ea_buf->max_size = (size + sb->s_blocksize - 1) &
+                   ~(sb->s_blocksize - 1);
+
+               ea_buf->xattr = kmalloc(ea_buf->max_size, GFP_KERNEL);
                if (ea_buf->xattr == NULL)
                        return -ENOMEM;
 
                ea_buf->flag = EA_MALLOC;
-               ea_buf->max_size = (size + sb->s_blocksize - 1) &
-                   ~(sb->s_blocksize - 1);
-
                if (ea_size == 0)
                        return 0;