diff --git a/block/elevator.c b/block/elevator.c
index 24c28b659bb3..afa3b037a17c 100644
--- a/block/elevator.c
+++ b/block/elevator.c
@@ -229,7 +229,9 @@ int elevator_init(struct request_queue *q, char *name)
 	}
 
 	err = e->ops.elevator_init_fn(q, e);
-	return 0;
+	if (err)
+		elevator_put(e);
+	return err;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(elevator_init);