diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c b/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c
index fcb1f8186fdd..31f310904412 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/loop.c
@@ -561,8 +561,6 @@ static struct nvme_ctrl *nvme_loop_create_ctrl(struct device *dev,
 	ctrl->ctrl.opts = opts;
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&ctrl->list);
 
-	INIT_WORK(&ctrl->ctrl.reset_work, nvme_loop_reset_ctrl_work);
-
 	ret = nvme_init_ctrl(&ctrl->ctrl, dev, &nvme_loop_ctrl_ops,
 				0 /* no quirks, we're perfect! */);
 	if (ret) {
@@ -574,8 +572,11 @@ static struct nvme_ctrl *nvme_loop_create_ctrl(struct device *dev,
 	if (ret)
 		goto out_put_ctrl;
 
-	if (!nvme_change_ctrl_state(&ctrl->ctrl, NVME_CTRL_CONNECTING))
+	if (!nvme_change_ctrl_state(&ctrl->ctrl, NVME_CTRL_CONNECTING))	{
 		WARN_ON_ONCE(1);
+		ret = -EINVAL;
+		goto out_uninit_ctrl;
+	}
 
 	ret = -ENOMEM;
 
@@ -593,6 +594,8 @@ static struct nvme_ctrl *nvme_loop_create_ctrl(struct device *dev,
 	if (ret)
 		goto out_free_queues;
 
+	INIT_WORK(&ctrl->ctrl.reset_work, nvme_loop_reset_ctrl_work);
+
 	ret = nvme_loop_configure_admin_queue(ctrl);
 	if (ret)
 		goto out_remove_admin_tagset;