diff --git a/drivers/s390/char/vmlogrdr.c b/drivers/s390/char/vmlogrdr.c
index c20a4fe..d1a142fa 100644
--- a/drivers/s390/char/vmlogrdr.c
+++ b/drivers/s390/char/vmlogrdr.c
@@ -765,8 +765,10 @@
 	} else
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	ret = device_register(dev);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
+		put_device(dev);
 		return ret;
+	}
 
 	ret = sysfs_create_group(&dev->kobj, &vmlogrdr_attr_group);
 	if (ret) {