diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/events.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/events.c
index 8bcf3426b9c6..3ce17c3d7a00 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/events.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/events.c
@@ -346,8 +346,10 @@ int mlx5_events_init(struct mlx5_core_dev *dev)
 	events->dev = dev;
 	dev->priv.events = events;
 	events->wq = create_singlethread_workqueue("mlx5_events");
-	if (!events->wq)
+	if (!events->wq) {
+		kfree(events);
 		return -ENOMEM;
+	}
 	INIT_WORK(&events->pcie_core_work, mlx5_pcie_event);
 
 	return 0;