diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_bridge.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_bridge.c
index 18c0e8b5511d..5f265e8b4d49 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_bridge.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_bridge.c
@@ -1121,7 +1121,6 @@ drm_atomic_bridge_propagate_bus_flags(struct drm_bridge *bridge,
 				      struct drm_atomic_state *state)
 {
 	struct drm_bridge_state *bridge_state, *next_bridge_state;
-	struct drm_bridge *next_bridge;
 	u32 output_flags = 0;
 
 	bridge_state = drm_atomic_get_new_bridge_state(state, bridge);
@@ -1130,7 +1129,7 @@ drm_atomic_bridge_propagate_bus_flags(struct drm_bridge *bridge,
 	if (!bridge_state)
 		return;
 
-	next_bridge = drm_bridge_get_next_bridge(bridge);
+	struct drm_bridge *next_bridge __free(drm_bridge_put) = drm_bridge_get_next_bridge(bridge);
 
 	/*
 	 * Let's try to apply the most common case here, that is, propagate