diff --git a/drivers/hv/hv.c b/drivers/hv/hv.c
index 748a1c4172a6..332d7c34be5c 100644
--- a/drivers/hv/hv.c
+++ b/drivers/hv/hv.c
@@ -189,6 +189,17 @@ static void hv_init_clockevent_device(struct clock_event_device *dev, int cpu)
 int hv_synic_alloc(void)
 {
 	int cpu;
+	struct hv_per_cpu_context *hv_cpu;
+
+	/*
+	 * First, zero all per-cpu memory areas so hv_synic_free() can
+	 * detect what memory has been allocated and cleanup properly
+	 * after any failures.
+	 */
+	for_each_present_cpu(cpu) {
+		hv_cpu = per_cpu_ptr(hv_context.cpu_context, cpu);
+		memset(hv_cpu, 0, sizeof(*hv_cpu));
+	}
 
 	hv_context.hv_numa_map = kcalloc(nr_node_ids, sizeof(struct cpumask),
 					 GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -198,10 +209,8 @@ int hv_synic_alloc(void)
 	}
 
 	for_each_present_cpu(cpu) {
-		struct hv_per_cpu_context *hv_cpu
-			= per_cpu_ptr(hv_context.cpu_context, cpu);
+		hv_cpu = per_cpu_ptr(hv_context.cpu_context, cpu);
 
-		memset(hv_cpu, 0, sizeof(*hv_cpu));
 		tasklet_init(&hv_cpu->msg_dpc,
 			     vmbus_on_msg_dpc, (unsigned long) hv_cpu);