diff --git a/drivers/media/dvb/dvb-core/dvbdev.c b/drivers/media/dvb/dvb-core/dvbdev.c
index 96fe0ecae250..3852430d0260 100644
--- a/drivers/media/dvb/dvb-core/dvbdev.c
+++ b/drivers/media/dvb/dvb-core/dvbdev.c
@@ -219,8 +219,6 @@ int dvb_register_device(struct dvb_adapter *adap, struct dvb_device **pdvbdev,
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
 
-	mutex_unlock(&dvbdev_register_lock);
-
 	memcpy(dvbdev, template, sizeof(struct dvb_device));
 	dvbdev->type = type;
 	dvbdev->id = id;
@@ -231,6 +229,8 @@ int dvb_register_device(struct dvb_adapter *adap, struct dvb_device **pdvbdev,
 
 	list_add_tail (&dvbdev->list_head, &adap->device_list);
 
+	mutex_unlock(&dvbdev_register_lock);
+
 	devfs_mk_cdev(MKDEV(DVB_MAJOR, nums2minor(adap->num, type, id)),
 			S_IFCHR | S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR,
 			"dvb/adapter%d/%s%d", adap->num, dnames[type], id);