diff --git a/drivers/uio/uio.c b/drivers/uio/uio.c
index 85644669fbe7..0a357db4b31b 100644
--- a/drivers/uio/uio.c
+++ b/drivers/uio/uio.c
@@ -961,6 +961,8 @@ int __uio_register_device(struct module *owner,
 	if (ret)
 		goto err_uio_dev_add_attributes;
 
+	info->uio_dev = idev;
+
 	if (info->irq && (info->irq != UIO_IRQ_CUSTOM)) {
 		/*
 		 * Note that we deliberately don't use devm_request_irq
@@ -972,11 +974,12 @@ int __uio_register_device(struct module *owner,
 		 */
 		ret = request_irq(info->irq, uio_interrupt,
 				  info->irq_flags, info->name, idev);
-		if (ret)
+		if (ret) {
+			info->uio_dev = NULL;
 			goto err_request_irq;
+		}
 	}
 
-	info->uio_dev = idev;
 	return 0;
 
 err_request_irq: