diff --git a/block/blk-cgroup.c b/block/blk-cgroup.c
index 7c2947128f58..0480892e97e5 100644
--- a/block/blk-cgroup.c
+++ b/block/blk-cgroup.c
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ static void blkg_free(struct blkcg_gq *blkg)
 			blkcg_policy[i]->pd_free_fn(blkg->pd[i]);
 
 	if (blkg->blkcg != &blkcg_root)
-		blk_exit_rl(&blkg->rl);
+		blk_exit_rl(blkg->q, &blkg->rl);
 
 	blkg_rwstat_exit(&blkg->stat_ios);
 	blkg_rwstat_exit(&blkg->stat_bytes);
diff --git a/block/blk-core.c b/block/blk-core.c
index c7068520794b..a7421b772d0e 100644
--- a/block/blk-core.c
+++ b/block/blk-core.c
@@ -648,13 +648,19 @@ int blk_init_rl(struct request_list *rl, struct request_queue *q,
 	if (!rl->rq_pool)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	if (rl != &q->root_rl)
+		WARN_ON_ONCE(!blk_get_queue(q));
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void blk_exit_rl(struct request_list *rl)
+void blk_exit_rl(struct request_queue *q, struct request_list *rl)
 {
-	if (rl->rq_pool)
+	if (rl->rq_pool) {
 		mempool_destroy(rl->rq_pool);
+		if (rl != &q->root_rl)
+			blk_put_queue(q);
+	}
 }
 
 struct request_queue *blk_alloc_queue(gfp_t gfp_mask)
diff --git a/block/blk-sysfs.c b/block/blk-sysfs.c
index 712b018e9f54..283da7fbe034 100644
--- a/block/blk-sysfs.c
+++ b/block/blk-sysfs.c
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ static void blk_release_queue(struct kobject *kobj)
 
 	blk_free_queue_stats(q->stats);
 
-	blk_exit_rl(&q->root_rl);
+	blk_exit_rl(q, &q->root_rl);
 
 	if (q->queue_tags)
 		__blk_queue_free_tags(q);
diff --git a/block/blk.h b/block/blk.h
index 2ed70228e44f..83c8e1100525 100644
--- a/block/blk.h
+++ b/block/blk.h
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ void blk_free_flush_queue(struct blk_flush_queue *q);
 
 int blk_init_rl(struct request_list *rl, struct request_queue *q,
 		gfp_t gfp_mask);
-void blk_exit_rl(struct request_list *rl);
+void blk_exit_rl(struct request_queue *q, struct request_list *rl);
 void blk_rq_bio_prep(struct request_queue *q, struct request *rq,
 			struct bio *bio);
 void blk_queue_bypass_start(struct request_queue *q);