diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/netlink.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/netlink.c
index 291e2e5bb450..4c66c1ec497e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/netlink.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/netlink.c
@@ -462,10 +462,12 @@ int ovpn_nl_peer_new_doit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 sock_release:
 	ovpn_socket_release(peer);
 peer_release:
-	/* release right away because peer was not yet hashed, thus it is not
-	 * used in any context
+	/* For UDP, the peer is unreachable until added to the hashtables, so
+	 * dropping the initial reference is enough. For TCP, the peer may be
+	 * concurrently reachable via sk_user_data->peer until
+	 * ovpn_socket_release() detaches; rely on the refcount.
 	 */
-	ovpn_peer_release(peer);
+	ovpn_peer_put(peer);
 
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
index c02dfab51a6e..fb10d1fea940 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ static void ovpn_peer_release_rcu(struct rcu_head *head)
  * ovpn_peer_release - release peer private members
  * @peer: the peer to release
  */
-void ovpn_peer_release(struct ovpn_peer *peer)
+static void ovpn_peer_release(struct ovpn_peer *peer)
 {
 	ovpn_crypto_state_release(&peer->crypto);
 	spin_lock_bh(&peer->lock);
diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.h b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.h
index 328401570cba..86c8cffada6d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.h
@@ -127,7 +127,6 @@ static inline bool ovpn_peer_hold(struct ovpn_peer *peer)
 	return kref_get_unless_zero(&peer->refcount);
 }
 
-void ovpn_peer_release(struct ovpn_peer *peer);
 void ovpn_peer_release_kref(struct kref *kref);
 
 /**