diff --git a/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c b/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c
index d1d8d8a21ddd50cbadc1ed75e3e4fdc810f9c78c..f68f42c083c824fa0348751a62318a1d277a9cee 100644
--- a/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c
+++ b/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ void ax25_dev_device_down(struct net_device *dev)
 	}
 	spin_unlock_bh(&ax25_dev_lock);
 	dev->ax25_ptr = NULL;
+	dev_put(dev);
 	ax25_dev_put(ax25_dev);
 }