diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index 30b5fe32c5256..658337bf33e43 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -8667,6 +8667,8 @@ static void __net_exit netdev_exit(struct net *net)
 {
 	kfree(net->dev_name_head);
 	kfree(net->dev_index_head);
+	if (net != &init_net)
+		WARN_ON_ONCE(!list_empty(&net->dev_base_head));
 }
 
 static struct pernet_operations __net_initdata netdev_net_ops = {