diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
index a09d61296425..d274e901cba1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
@@ -347,6 +347,7 @@ static void ovpn_peer_release_rcu(struct rcu_head *head)
 	 * perform it in the RCU callback, when all contexts are done
 	 */
 	dst_cache_destroy(&peer->dst_cache);
+	netdev_put(peer->ovpn->dev, &peer->dev_tracker);
 	kfree(peer);
 }
 
@@ -361,7 +362,6 @@ static void ovpn_peer_release(struct ovpn_peer *peer)
 	ovpn_bind_reset(peer, NULL);
 	spin_unlock_bh(&peer->lock);
 	call_rcu(&peer->rcu, ovpn_peer_release_rcu);
-	netdev_put(peer->ovpn->dev, &peer->dev_tracker);
 }
 
 /**