diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/devlink.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/devlink.c
index bbdcf064ba1048e42fb25c63674af7941fbf5104..27ae05c5fdafe66a70f250471f3d0a416b00a90b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/devlink.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/devlink.c
@@ -218,22 +218,22 @@ void nsim_devlink_teardown(struct netdevsim *ns)
 	}
 }
 
-void nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns)
+int nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns)
 {
 	struct net *net = nsim_to_net(ns);
 	bool *reg_devlink = net_generic(net, nsim_devlink_id);
 	struct devlink *devlink;
-	int err = -ENOMEM;
+	int err;
 
 	/* only one device per namespace controls devlink */
 	if (!*reg_devlink) {
 		ns->devlink = NULL;
-		return;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	devlink = devlink_alloc(&nsim_devlink_ops, 0);
 	if (!devlink)
-		return;
+		return -ENOMEM;
 
 	err = devlink_register(devlink, &ns->dev);
 	if (err)
@@ -247,12 +247,14 @@ void nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns)
 
 	*reg_devlink = false;
 
-	return;
+	return 0;
 
 err_dl_unregister:
 	devlink_unregister(devlink);
 err_devlink_free:
 	devlink_free(devlink);
+
+	return err;
 }
 
 /* Initialize per network namespace state */
diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
index 8b30ab3ea2c2434f7d7a37ec6a50cff1f4c9c4f1..ec68f38213d9c31e4049893020e1dc2bb97eea3b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
@@ -167,10 +167,14 @@ static int nsim_init(struct net_device *dev)
 
 	SET_NETDEV_DEV(dev, &ns->dev);
 
-	nsim_devlink_setup(ns);
+	err = nsim_devlink_setup(ns);
+	if (err)
+		goto err_unreg_dev;
 
 	return 0;
 
+err_unreg_dev:
+	device_unregister(&ns->dev);
 err_bpf_uninit:
 	nsim_bpf_uninit(ns);
 err_debugfs_destroy:
diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdevsim.h b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdevsim.h
index afb8cf90c0fdfae4042bf9580c6feb8df8ec5137..3a8581af3b850a6f7449d3d16727a8d8f6a1b86a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdevsim.h
+++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdevsim.h
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ enum nsim_resource_id {
 	NSIM_RESOURCE_IPV6_FIB_RULES,
 };
 
-void nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns);
+int nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns);
 void nsim_devlink_teardown(struct netdevsim *ns);
 
 int nsim_devlink_init(void);
@@ -128,8 +128,9 @@ void nsim_fib_exit(void);
 u64 nsim_fib_get_val(struct net *net, enum nsim_resource_id res_id, bool max);
 int nsim_fib_set_max(struct net *net, enum nsim_resource_id res_id, u64 val);
 #else
-static inline void nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns)
+static inline int nsim_devlink_setup(struct netdevsim *ns)
 {
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static inline void nsim_devlink_teardown(struct netdevsim *ns)