diff --git a/target/s390x/helper.c b/target/s390x/helper.c
index c41aa4c4ff819fb3929660ed508ab0866446376a..9ff7ff4acc9dce4f8bc03d83a887c865accdc5af 100644
--- a/target/s390x/helper.c
+++ b/target/s390x/helper.c
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ S390CPU *s390x_new_cpu(const char *typename, uint32_t core_id, Error **errp)
     object_property_set_bool(OBJECT(cpu), true, "realized", &err);
 
 out:
+    object_unref(OBJECT(cpu));
     if (err) {
         error_propagate(errp, err);
-        object_unref(OBJECT(cpu));
         cpu = NULL;
     }
     return cpu;