diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ulp.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ulp.c
index 2e54bf4fc7a7..c0f67db641c3 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ulp.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/broadcom/bnxt/bnxt_ulp.c
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ static int bnxt_send_msg(struct bnxt_en_dev *edev, unsigned int ulp_id,
 
 	rc = hwrm_req_replace(bp, req, fw_msg->msg, fw_msg->msg_len);
 	if (rc)
-		return rc;
+		goto drop_req;
 
 	hwrm_req_timeout(bp, req, fw_msg->timeout);
 	resp = hwrm_req_hold(bp, req);
@@ -264,6 +264,7 @@ static int bnxt_send_msg(struct bnxt_en_dev *edev, unsigned int ulp_id,
 
 		memcpy(fw_msg->resp, resp, resp_len);
 	}
+drop_req:
 	hwrm_req_drop(bp, req);
 	return rc;
 }