diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-acpi.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-acpi.c
index df9800aaeac7..0d4d5dcf94f3 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-acpi.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-acpi.c
@@ -352,10 +352,18 @@ static struct i2c_adapter *i2c_acpi_find_adapter_by_handle(acpi_handle handle)
 static struct i2c_client *i2c_acpi_find_client_by_adev(struct acpi_device *adev)
 {
 	struct device *dev;
+	struct i2c_client *client;
 
 	dev = bus_find_device(&i2c_bus_type, NULL, adev,
 			      i2c_acpi_find_match_device);
-	return dev ? i2c_verify_client(dev) : NULL;
+	if (!dev)
+		return NULL;
+
+	client = i2c_verify_client(dev);
+	if (!client)
+		put_device(dev);
+
+	return client;
 }
 
 static int i2c_acpi_notify(struct notifier_block *nb, unsigned long value,