diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/lib/devcom.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/lib/devcom.c
index bced2efe9bef..abd066e95228 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/lib/devcom.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/lib/devcom.c
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ struct mlx5_devcom *mlx5_devcom_register_device(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev)
 	priv->devs[idx] = dev;
 	devcom = mlx5_devcom_alloc(priv, idx);
 	if (!devcom) {
-		kfree(priv);
+		if (new_priv)
+			kfree(priv);
 		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
 	}