diff --git a/drivers/usb/atm/ueagle-atm.c b/drivers/usb/atm/ueagle-atm.c
index d610cdcef7d0..686cc58fb89f 100644
--- a/drivers/usb/atm/ueagle-atm.c
+++ b/drivers/usb/atm/ueagle-atm.c
@@ -663,6 +663,7 @@ static void uea_upload_pre_firmware(const struct firmware *fw_entry,
 	uea_err(usb, "firmware is corrupted\n");
 err:
 	release_firmware(fw_entry);
+	usb_put_dev(usb);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -693,12 +694,14 @@ static int uea_load_firmware(struct usb_device *usb, unsigned int ver)
 		break;
 	}
 
+	usb_get_dev(usb);
 	ret = request_firmware_nowait(THIS_MODULE, 1, fw_name, &usb->dev,
 					GFP_KERNEL, usb,
 					uea_upload_pre_firmware);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
 		uea_err(usb, "firmware %s is not available\n", fw_name);
-	else
+		usb_put_dev(usb);
+	} else
 		uea_info(usb, "loading firmware %s\n", fw_name);
 
 	return ret;