diff --git a/drivers/iio/inkern.c b/drivers/iio/inkern.c
index c8bad3cf891df0f1da009eeeeb1bc4809b879eda..217e9306aa0ffbe3e952554501cf6ddf362abac1 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/inkern.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/inkern.c
@@ -351,6 +351,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(iio_channel_get);
 
 void iio_channel_release(struct iio_channel *channel)
 {
+	if (!channel)
+		return;
 	iio_device_put(channel->indio_dev);
 	kfree(channel);
 }