diff --git a/src/rgw/rgw_rados.cc b/src/rgw/rgw_rados.cc
index 2562a3afeb3..685c6eefe66 100644
--- a/src/rgw/rgw_rados.cc
+++ b/src/rgw/rgw_rados.cc
@@ -4531,12 +4531,12 @@ int RGWRados::put_bucket_info(string& bucket_name, RGWBucketInfo& info, bool exc
 {
   bufferlist bl;
 
-  ::encode(info, bl);
-
   bool create_head = !info.has_instance_obj || create_entry_point;
 
   info.has_instance_obj = true;
 
+  ::encode(info, bl);
+
   string oid;
   get_bucket_meta_oid(info.bucket, oid);
   int ret = rgw_bucket_store_info(this, oid, bl, exclusive, pattrs, objv_tracker, mtime);