diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/core.c b/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
index d85bcfe68b664477b826df091868d67001d81671..80cad5be07587f178a54d421b7785150836622c3 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
@@ -3146,6 +3146,7 @@ static int nvme_init_ns_head(struct nvme_ns *ns, unsigned nsid,
 				"IDs don't match for shared namespace %d\n",
 					nsid);
 			ret = -EINVAL;
+			nvme_put_ns_head(head);
 			goto out_unlock;
 		}
 	}