diff --git a/fs/io_uring.c b/fs/io_uring.c
index 0fbb486a320e..86a2bd721900 100644
--- a/fs/io_uring.c
+++ b/fs/io_uring.c
@@ -2777,8 +2777,10 @@ static void io_ring_ctx_free(struct io_ring_ctx *ctx)
 	io_eventfd_unregister(ctx);
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_UNIX)
-	if (ctx->ring_sock)
+	if (ctx->ring_sock) {
+		ctx->ring_sock->file = NULL; /* so that iput() is called */
 		sock_release(ctx->ring_sock);
+	}
 #endif
 
 	io_mem_free(ctx->sq_ring);