diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gem.c
index bf90625df3c5bf4f34f1a1d187064f46c3599aa1..ac545c88a6f3d68686360a4cef9d0d5d9a3e427e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gem.c
@@ -731,9 +731,6 @@ drm_gem_flink_ioctl(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
  * @file_priv: drm file-private structure
  *
  * Open an object using the global name, returning a handle and the size.
- *
- * This handle (of course) holds a reference to the object, so the object
- * will not go away until the handle is deleted.
  */
 int
 drm_gem_open_ioctl(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
@@ -758,14 +755,15 @@ drm_gem_open_ioctl(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 
 	/* drm_gem_handle_create_tail unlocks dev->object_name_lock. */
 	ret = drm_gem_handle_create_tail(file_priv, obj, &handle);
-	drm_gem_object_put_unlocked(obj);
 	if (ret)
-		return ret;
+		goto err;
 
 	args->handle = handle;
 	args->size = obj->size;
 
-	return 0;
+err:
+	drm_gem_object_put_unlocked(obj);
+	return ret;
 }
 
 /**