diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
index 54903f3c851e..744b2ab75288 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
@@ -1015,7 +1015,11 @@ static int watchdog_cdev_register(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 	wd_data->dev.groups = wdd->groups;
 	wd_data->dev.release = watchdog_core_data_release;
 	dev_set_drvdata(&wd_data->dev, wdd);
-	dev_set_name(&wd_data->dev, "watchdog%d", wdd->id);
+	err = dev_set_name(&wd_data->dev, "watchdog%d", wdd->id);
+	if (err) {
+		put_device(&wd_data->dev);
+		return err;
+	}
 
 	kthread_init_work(&wd_data->work, watchdog_ping_work);
 	hrtimer_init(&wd_data->timer, CLOCK_MONOTONIC, HRTIMER_MODE_REL_HARD);