diff --git a/drivers/staging/fsl-dpaa2/ethernet/dpaa2-eth.c b/drivers/staging/fsl-dpaa2/ethernet/dpaa2-eth.c
index 9329fcad95acd336535662bc32e0ed5fce39ca39..2f8f1f3f1bcd90d4fa3cb3a3464ad994d222fff8 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/fsl-dpaa2/ethernet/dpaa2-eth.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/fsl-dpaa2/ethernet/dpaa2-eth.c
@@ -2632,10 +2632,10 @@ static int dpaa2_eth_remove(struct fsl_mc_device *ls_dev)
 
 	fsl_mc_portal_free(priv->mc_io);
 
-	free_netdev(net_dev);
-
 	dev_dbg(net_dev->dev.parent, "Removed interface %s\n", net_dev->name);
 
+	free_netdev(net_dev);
+
 	return 0;
 }