diff --git a/drivers/net/mctp/mctp-i3c.c b/drivers/net/mctp/mctp-i3c.c
index 88d9e36cd4a2..4e857dd5df64 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mctp/mctp-i3c.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mctp/mctp-i3c.c
@@ -288,6 +288,7 @@ __must_hold(&busdevs_lock)
 static int mctp_i3c_probe(struct i3c_device *i3c)
 {
 	struct mctp_i3c_bus *b = NULL, *mbus = NULL;
+	int rc;
 
 	/* Look for a known bus */
 	mutex_lock(&busdevs_lock);
@@ -296,14 +297,16 @@ static int mctp_i3c_probe(struct i3c_device *i3c)
 			mbus = b;
 			break;
 		}
-	mutex_unlock(&busdevs_lock);
 
 	if (!mbus) {
 		/* probably no "mctp-controller" property on the i3c bus */
-		return -ENODEV;
+		rc = -ENODEV;
+	} else {
+		rc = mctp_i3c_add_device(mbus, i3c);
 	}
+	mutex_unlock(&busdevs_lock);
 
-	return mctp_i3c_add_device(mbus, i3c);
+	return rc;
 }
 
 static void mctp_i3c_remove_device(struct mctp_i3c_device *mi)