The reference must be released when device_register(&child_device_obj->device) failed. Fix this by adding 'put_device()' in the error handling path. --- drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c | 1 + 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+) diff --git a/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c b/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c index 8b2e413bf19c..e592c481f7ae 100644 --- a/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c +++ b/drivers/hv/vmbus_drv.c @@ -2082,6 +2082,7 @@ int vmbus_device_register(struct hv_device *child_device_obj) ret = device_register(&child_device_obj->device); if (ret) { pr_err("Unable to register child device\n"); + put_device(&child_device_obj->device); return ret; } -- 2.34.1