diff --git a/drivers/block/nbd.c b/drivers/block/nbd.c
index cdbeb309a1051..0bf2b21a62cb7 100644
--- a/drivers/block/nbd.c
+++ b/drivers/block/nbd.c
@@ -1121,8 +1121,10 @@ static int __init nbd_init(void)
 	if (!recv_workqueue)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	if (register_blkdev(NBD_MAJOR, "nbd"))
+	if (register_blkdev(NBD_MAJOR, "nbd")) {
+		destroy_workqueue(recv_workqueue);
 		return -EIO;
+	}
 
 	nbd_dbg_init();