diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c
index b110883f8253..7354a4cda59d 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c
@@ -122,8 +122,10 @@ static struct qxl_bo *qxlhw_handle_to_bo(struct qxl_device *qdev,
 	qobj = gem_to_qxl_bo(gobj);
 
 	ret = qxl_release_list_add(release, qobj);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
+		drm_gem_object_unreference_unlocked(gobj);
 		return NULL;
+	}
 
 	return qobj;
 }