diff --git a/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c b/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c
index d4e453062062bf529bbf191a651229f7e62ec412..9948a7335b83c8916e738857f2b3181999d73813 100644
--- a/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c
+++ b/drivers/rpmsg/virtio_rpmsg_bus.c
@@ -851,7 +851,7 @@ static struct rpmsg_device *rpmsg_virtio_add_ctrl_dev(struct virtio_device *vdev
 
 	err = rpmsg_ctrldev_register_device(rpdev_ctrl);
 	if (err) {
-		kfree(vch);
+		/* vch will be free in virtio_rpmsg_release_device() */
 		return ERR_PTR(err);
 	}