diff --git a/net/openvswitch/conntrack.c b/net/openvswitch/conntrack.c
index bded32144619734ccfbad53dafcd493222aaf08a..c4128082f88bf32edba98309d59baddc9a88f9d1 100644
--- a/net/openvswitch/conntrack.c
+++ b/net/openvswitch/conntrack.c
@@ -1307,6 +1307,7 @@ static int ovs_ct_add_helper(struct ovs_conntrack_info *info, const char *name,
 {
 	struct nf_conntrack_helper *helper;
 	struct nf_conn_help *help;
+	int ret = 0;
 
 	helper = nf_conntrack_helper_try_module_get(name, info->family,
 						    key->ip.proto);
@@ -1321,13 +1322,21 @@ static int ovs_ct_add_helper(struct ovs_conntrack_info *info, const char *name,
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_NF_NAT_NEEDED
+	if (info->nat) {
+		ret = nf_nat_helper_try_module_get(name, info->family,
+						   key->ip.proto);
+		if (ret) {
+			nf_conntrack_helper_put(helper);
+			OVS_NLERR(log, "Failed to load \"%s\" NAT helper, error: %d",
+				  name, ret);
+			return ret;
+		}
+	}
+#endif
 	rcu_assign_pointer(help->helper, helper);
 	info->helper = helper;
-
-	if (info->nat)
-		request_module("ip_nat_%s", name);
-
-	return 0;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NF_NAT)
@@ -1801,8 +1810,13 @@ void ovs_ct_free_action(const struct nlattr *a)
 
 static void __ovs_ct_free_action(struct ovs_conntrack_info *ct_info)
 {
-	if (ct_info->helper)
+	if (ct_info->helper) {
+#ifdef CONFIG_NF_NAT_NEEDED
+		if (ct_info->nat)
+			nf_nat_helper_put(ct_info->helper);
+#endif
 		nf_conntrack_helper_put(ct_info->helper);
+	}
 	if (ct_info->ct) {
 		if (ct_info->timeout[0])
 			nf_ct_destroy_timeout(ct_info->ct);