diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_netlink.c b/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_netlink.c
index d5a90a66b45cf..5b05cf3837da1 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_netlink.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/ulp/ipoib/ipoib_netlink.c
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ static size_t ipoib_get_size(const struct net_device *dev)
 
 static struct rtnl_link_ops ipoib_link_ops __read_mostly = {
 	.kind		= "ipoib",
+	.netns_refund   = true,
 	.maxtype	= IFLA_IPOIB_MAX,
 	.policy		= ipoib_policy,
 	.priv_size	= sizeof(struct ipoib_dev_priv),