diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/devlink.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/devlink.c
index 381925c90d94..d63ce3feb65c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/devlink.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/devlink.c
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ static int mlx5_devlink_flash_update(struct devlink *devlink,
 	if (err)
 		return err;
 
-	return mlx5_firmware_flash(dev, fw, extack);
+	err = mlx5_firmware_flash(dev, fw, extack);
+	release_firmware(fw);
+
+	return err;
 }
 
 static u8 mlx5_fw_ver_major(u32 version)