diff --git a/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c b/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c
index 8a420dfd5ee1..2371151bc8fc 100644
--- a/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c
+++ b/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c
@@ -1915,6 +1915,7 @@ static int mport_cdev_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 			  sizeof(struct rio_event) * MPORT_EVENT_DEPTH,
 			  GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (ret < 0) {
+		put_device(&chdev->dev);
 		dev_err(&chdev->dev, DRV_NAME ": kfifo_alloc failed\n");
 		ret = -ENOMEM;
 		goto err_fifo;