diff --git a/lib/kobject.c b/lib/kobject.c
index ae6bb90..0487d1f 100644
--- a/lib/kobject.c
+++ b/lib/kobject.c
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@
 {
 	int error = 0;
 	const char *devpath = NULL;
+	const char *dup_name = NULL, *name;
 	char *devpath_string = NULL;
 	char *envp[2];
 
@@ -420,15 +421,27 @@
 	envp[0] = devpath_string;
 	envp[1] = NULL;
 
+	name = dup_name = kstrdup(new_name, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!name) {
+		error = -ENOMEM;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	error = sysfs_rename_dir(kobj, new_name);
+	if (error)
+		goto out;
+
+	/* Install the new kobject name */
+	dup_name = kobj->name;
+	kobj->name = name;
 
 	/* This function is mostly/only used for network interface.
 	 * Some hotplug package track interfaces by their name and
 	 * therefore want to know when the name is changed by the user. */
-	if (!error)
-		kobject_uevent_env(kobj, KOBJ_MOVE, envp);
+	kobject_uevent_env(kobj, KOBJ_MOVE, envp);
 
 out:
+	kfree(dup_name);
 	kfree(devpath_string);
 	kfree(devpath);
 	kobject_put(kobj);