diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
index b7d7f410c256..63485a770bef 100644
--- a/drivers/base/core.c
+++ b/drivers/base/core.c
@@ -3537,6 +3537,8 @@ int device_add(struct device *dev)
        /* subsystems can specify simple device enumeration */
        else if (dev->bus && dev->bus->dev_name)
                error = dev_set_name(dev, "%s%u", dev->bus->dev_name, dev->id);
+       else
+               error = 1;
        if (error)
                goto name_error;