diff --git a/drivers/dax/dax.c b/drivers/dax/dax.c
index 8d9829ff2a78..a5ed59a5a968 100644
--- a/drivers/dax/dax.c
+++ b/drivers/dax/dax.c
@@ -675,13 +675,10 @@ static void dax_dev_release(struct device *dev)
 	kfree(dax_dev);
 }
 
-static void unregister_dax_dev(void *dev)
+static void kill_dax_dev(struct dax_dev *dax_dev)
 {
-	struct dax_dev *dax_dev = to_dax_dev(dev);
 	struct cdev *cdev = &dax_dev->cdev;
 
-	dev_dbg(dev, "%s\n", __func__);
-
 	/*
 	 * Note, rcu is not protecting the liveness of dax_dev, rcu is
 	 * ensuring that any fault handlers that might have seen
@@ -693,6 +690,15 @@ static void unregister_dax_dev(void *dev)
 	synchronize_rcu();
 	unmap_mapping_range(dax_dev->inode->i_mapping, 0, 0, 1);
 	cdev_del(cdev);
+}
+
+static void unregister_dax_dev(void *dev)
+{
+	struct dax_dev *dax_dev = to_dax_dev(dev);
+
+	dev_dbg(dev, "%s\n", __func__);
+
+	kill_dax_dev(dax_dev);
 	device_unregister(dev);
 }
 
@@ -769,6 +775,7 @@ struct dax_dev *devm_create_dax_dev(struct dax_region *dax_region,
 	dev_set_name(dev, "dax%d.%d", dax_region->id, dax_dev->id);
 	rc = device_add(dev);
 	if (rc) {
+		kill_dax_dev(dax_dev);
 		put_device(dev);
 		return ERR_PTR(rc);
 	}