diff --git a/app/services/ci/create_pipeline_service.rb b/app/services/ci/create_pipeline_service.rb
index 223514968fc..e13f4fce13d 100644
--- a/app/services/ci/create_pipeline_service.rb
+++ b/app/services/ci/create_pipeline_service.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ module Ci
         raise RuntimeError, 'Insufficient permissions to create a new pipeline'
       end
 
+      pipeline = new_pipeline
+
       Ci::Commit.transaction do
         unless pipeline.config_processor
           raise ArgumentError, pipeline.yaml_errors || 'Missing .gitlab-ci.yml file'
@@ -27,6 +29,10 @@ module Ci
 
     private
 
+    def new_pipeline
+      project.ci_commits.new(sha: commit.id, ref: params[:ref], before_sha: Gitlab::Git::BLANK_SHA)
+    end
+
     def ref_names
       @ref_names ||= project.repository.ref_names
     end
@@ -34,9 +40,5 @@ module Ci
     def commit
       @commit ||= project.commit(params[:ref])
     end
-
-    def pipeline
-      @pipeline ||= project.ci_commits.new(sha: commit.id, ref: params[:ref], before_sha: Gitlab::Git::BLANK_SHA)
-    end
   end
 end