diff --git a/drivers/media/video/ivtv/ivtv-fileops.c b/drivers/media/video/ivtv/ivtv-fileops.c
index 0e0605cc0bd3b3f8041d0af508fb77f9aacd9ce1..24fcbb88e52912df18425e3322b1c9b6231e631d 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/ivtv/ivtv-fileops.c
+++ b/drivers/media/video/ivtv/ivtv-fileops.c
@@ -892,6 +892,7 @@ static int ivtv_serialized_open(struct ivtv_stream *s, struct file *filp)
 			if (atomic_read(&itv->capturing) > 0) {
 				/* switching to radio while capture is
 				   in progress is not polite */
+				ivtv_release_stream(s);
 				kfree(item);
 				return -EBUSY;
 			}