diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
index 3729f99fd8ec..694357f2816b 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
@@ -971,8 +971,10 @@ static int watchdog_cdev_register(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 	wd_data->wdd = wdd;
 	wdd->wd_data = wd_data;
 
-	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(watchdog_kworker))
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(watchdog_kworker)) {
+		kfree(wd_data);
 		return -ENODEV;
+	}
 
 	device_initialize(&wd_data->dev);
 	wd_data->dev.devt = MKDEV(MAJOR(watchdog_devt), wdd->id);