diff --git a/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c b/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c
index 55a611f7239bc3ec23319522e4831efa3f2d183e..68a417cee39c254fa23c18cfd8ce6f18ecf47585 100644
--- a/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c
+++ b/net/ax25/ax25_dev.c
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ 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);
 }