diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/core.c b/sound/soc/sof/core.c
index eaa16755a270..93e1c38392a3 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/core.c
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/core.c
@@ -434,9 +434,10 @@ int snd_sof_device_remove(struct device *dev)
 	struct snd_sof_dev *sdev = dev_get_drvdata(dev);
 	struct snd_sof_pdata *pdata = sdev->pdata;
 	int ret;
+	bool aborted = false;
 
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SND_SOC_SOF_PROBE_WORK_QUEUE))
-		cancel_work_sync(&sdev->probe_work);
+		aborted = cancel_work_sync(&sdev->probe_work);
 
 	/*
 	 * Unregister any registered client device first before IPC and debugfs
@@ -462,6 +463,9 @@ int snd_sof_device_remove(struct device *dev)
 		snd_sof_free_debug(sdev);
 		snd_sof_remove(sdev);
 		sof_ops_free(sdev);
+	} else if (aborted) {
+		/* probe_work never ran */
+		sof_ops_free(sdev);
 	}
 
 	/* release firmware */