diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_channel.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_channel.c
index 2242e19e9..ab02dc42b 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_channel.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_channel.c
@@ -281,11 +281,20 @@ struct channel_gk20a *gk20a_get_channel_from_file(int fd)
 int gk20a_channel_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 {
 	struct channel_priv *priv = filp->private_data;
-	struct channel_gk20a *ch = priv->c;
-	struct gk20a *g = priv->g;
+	struct channel_gk20a *ch;
+	struct gk20a *g;
 
 	int err;
 
+	/* We could still end up here even if the channel_open failed, e.g.
+	 * if we ran out of hw channel IDs.
+	 */
+	if (!priv)
+		return 0;
+
+	ch = priv->c;
+	g = priv->g;
+
 	err = gk20a_busy(g);
 	if (err) {
 		nvgpu_err(g, "failed to release a channel!");