diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_sync_gk20a.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_sync_gk20a.c
index 8ff53d172..87f0bf747 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_sync_gk20a.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_sync_gk20a.c
@@ -115,8 +115,10 @@ static int gk20a_channel_syncpt_wait_fd(struct gk20a_channel_sync *s, int fd,
 	}
 
 	num_wait_cmds = nvhost_sync_num_pts(sync_fence);
-	if (num_wait_cmds == 0)
+	if (num_wait_cmds == 0) {
+		sync_fence_put(sync_fence);
 		return 0;
+	}
 
 	err = gk20a_channel_alloc_priv_cmdbuf(c, 4 * num_wait_cmds, &wait_cmd);
 	if (err) {