diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c b/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c
index b78c55fac8cc..41aec7647b2b 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/operation.c
@@ -853,12 +853,17 @@ void gb_connection_recv(struct gb_connection *connection,
  */
 void gb_operation_cancel(struct gb_operation *operation, int errno)
 {
-	if (gb_operation_result_set(operation, errno)) {
-		gb_message_cancel(operation->request);
-		gb_operation_put(operation);
-	} else if (gb_operation_is_incoming(operation)) {
-		if (!gb_operation_is_unidirectional(operation))
+	if (gb_operation_is_incoming(operation)) {
+		/* Cancel response if it has been allocated */
+		if (!gb_operation_result_set(operation, errno) &&
+				!gb_operation_is_unidirectional(operation)) {
 			gb_message_cancel(operation->response);
+		}
+	} else {
+		if (gb_operation_result_set(operation, errno)) {
+			gb_message_cancel(operation->request);
+			gb_operation_put(operation);
+		}
 	}
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(gb_operation_cancel);