diff --git a/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c b/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c
index ec87dd21e054..b2f1ced8e6dd 100644
--- a/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c
+++ b/drivers/nfc/st-nci/se.c
@@ -672,6 +672,12 @@ int st_nci_se_io(struct nci_dev *ndev, u32 se_idx,
 					ST_NCI_EVT_TRANSMIT_DATA, apdu,
 					apdu_length);
 	default:
+		/* Need to free cb_context here as at the moment we can't
+		 * clearly indicate to the caller if the callback function
+		 * would be called (and free it) or not. In both cases a
+		 * negative value may be returned to the caller.
+		 */
+		kfree(cb_context);
 		return -ENODEV;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/drivers/nfc/st21nfca/se.c b/drivers/nfc/st21nfca/se.c
index df8d27cf2956..dae288bebcb5 100644
--- a/drivers/nfc/st21nfca/se.c
+++ b/drivers/nfc/st21nfca/se.c
@@ -236,6 +236,12 @@ int st21nfca_hci_se_io(struct nfc_hci_dev *hdev, u32 se_idx,
 					ST21NFCA_EVT_TRANSMIT_DATA,
 					apdu, apdu_length);
 	default:
+		/* Need to free cb_context here as at the moment we can't
+		 * clearly indicate to the caller if the callback function
+		 * would be called (and free it) or not. In both cases a
+		 * negative value may be returned to the caller.
+		 */
+		kfree(cb_context);
 		return -ENODEV;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/net/nfc/netlink.c b/net/nfc/netlink.c
index 1fc339084d89..348bf561bc9f 100644
--- a/net/nfc/netlink.c
+++ b/net/nfc/netlink.c
@@ -1442,7 +1442,11 @@ static int nfc_se_io(struct nfc_dev *dev, u32 se_idx,
 	rc = dev->ops->se_io(dev, se_idx, apdu,
 			apdu_length, cb, cb_context);
 
+	device_unlock(&dev->dev);
+	return rc;
+
 error:
+	kfree(cb_context);
 	device_unlock(&dev->dev);
 	return rc;
 }