diff --git a/drivers/misc/ocxl/file.c b/drivers/misc/ocxl/file.c
index d278f8ba2c76..134806c2e67e 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/ocxl/file.c
+++ b/drivers/misc/ocxl/file.c
@@ -259,6 +259,8 @@ static long afu_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd,
 		if (IS_ERR(ev_ctx))
 			return PTR_ERR(ev_ctx);
 		rc = ocxl_irq_set_handler(ctx, irq_id, irq_handler, irq_free, ev_ctx);
+		if (rc)
+			eventfd_ctx_put(ev_ctx);
 		break;
 
 	case OCXL_IOCTL_GET_METADATA: