diff --git a/drivers/android/binderfs.c b/drivers/android/binderfs.c
index 110e41f920c2..f303106b3362 100644
--- a/drivers/android/binderfs.c
+++ b/drivers/android/binderfs.c
@@ -448,6 +448,7 @@ static int binderfs_binder_ctl_create(struct super_block *sb)
 	inode->i_uid = info->root_uid;
 	inode->i_gid = info->root_gid;
 
+	refcount_set(&device->ref, 1);
 	device->binderfs_inode = inode;
 	device->miscdev.minor = minor;