diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
index 7274a9b9df58..2c77456f359f 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
@@ -1582,10 +1582,10 @@ static void clean_mr(struct mlx5_ib_dev *dev, struct mlx5_ib_mr *mr)
 		mr->sig = NULL;
 	}
 
-	mlx5_free_priv_descs(mr);
-
-	if (!allocated_from_cache)
+	if (!allocated_from_cache) {
 		destroy_mkey(dev, mr);
+		mlx5_free_priv_descs(mr);
+	}
 }
 
 static void dereg_mr(struct mlx5_ib_dev *dev, struct mlx5_ib_mr *mr)