diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_engine_cs.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_engine_cs.c
index 1f7188129cd1..2ddcad497fa3 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_engine_cs.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_engine_cs.c
@@ -1274,8 +1274,13 @@ int intel_engines_init(struct intel_gt *gt)
 			return err;
 
 		err = setup(engine);
-		if (err)
+		if (err) {
+			intel_engine_cleanup_common(engine);
 			return err;
+		}
+
+		/* The backend should now be responsible for cleanup */
+		GEM_BUG_ON(engine->release == NULL);
 
 		err = engine_init_common(engine);
 		if (err)