diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_lib.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_lib.c
index 94da5fbd56f1..7ce6a0e4acb6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_lib.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/idpf/idpf_lib.c
@@ -1320,6 +1320,7 @@ static struct idpf_vport *idpf_vport_alloc(struct idpf_adapter *adapter,
 
 free_rss_key:
 	kfree(rss_data->rss_key);
+	rss_data->rss_key = NULL;
 free_qreg_chunks:
 	idpf_vport_deinit_queue_reg_chunks(adapter->vport_config[idx]);
 free_vector_idxs: