diff --git a/drivers/net/fddi/defza.c b/drivers/net/fddi/defza.c
index eaf85db53a5ef..2e7d6cc16b2d1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/fddi/defza.c
+++ b/drivers/net/fddi/defza.c
@@ -1504,9 +1504,8 @@ static int fza_probe(struct device *bdev)
 	release_mem_region(start, len);
 
 err_out_kfree:
-	free_netdev(dev);
-
 	pr_err("%s: initialization failure, aborting!\n", fp->name);
+	free_netdev(dev);
 	return ret;
 }