diff --git a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
index e4be695eb789..fce48d11ae07 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
@@ -2711,14 +2711,15 @@ static int kvm_ioctl_create_device(struct kvm *kvm,
 		return ret;
 	}
 
+	kvm_get_kvm(kvm);
 	ret = anon_inode_getfd(ops->name, &kvm_device_fops, dev, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
 	if (ret < 0) {
+		kvm_put_kvm(kvm);
 		ops->destroy(dev);
 		return ret;
 	}
 
 	list_add(&dev->vm_node, &kvm->devices);
-	kvm_get_kvm(kvm);
 	cd->fd = ret;
 	return 0;
 }