diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/omapdrm/omap_fbdev.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/omapdrm/omap_fbdev.c
index 3cb16f0cf38155a3d21a72674887d6656c214535..89da41ac64d2548508f774e2819e7a986e16087a 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/omapdrm/omap_fbdev.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/omapdrm/omap_fbdev.c
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ static int omap_fbdev_create(struct drm_fb_helper *helper,
 		/* note: if fb creation failed, we can't rely on fb destroy
 		 * to unref the bo:
 		 */
-		drm_gem_object_unreference(fbdev->bo);
+		drm_gem_object_unreference_unlocked(fbdev->bo);
 		ret = PTR_ERR(fb);
 		goto fail;
 	}