diff --git a/tc/f_basic.c b/tc/f_basic.c
index 1c33ca3d..4adf1d22 100644
--- a/tc/f_basic.c
+++ b/tc/f_basic.c
@@ -43,9 +43,6 @@ static int basic_parse_opt(struct filter_util *qu, char *handle,
 	struct rtattr *tail;
 	long h = 0;
 
-	if (argc == 0)
-		return 0;
-
 	if (handle) {
 		h = strtol(handle, NULL, 0);
 		if (h == LONG_MIN || h == LONG_MAX) {
@@ -54,9 +51,11 @@ static int basic_parse_opt(struct filter_util *qu, char *handle,
 			return -1;
 		}
 	}
-
 	t->tcm_handle = h;
 
+	if (argc == 0)
+		return 0;
+
 	tail = (struct rtattr*)(((void*)n)+NLMSG_ALIGN(n->nlmsg_len));
 	addattr_l(n, MAX_MSG, TCA_OPTIONS, NULL, 0);