diff --git a/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c b/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c
index 8fab5126765d..69649c0ef873 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c
@@ -1170,8 +1170,8 @@ int fbtft_probe_common(struct fbtft_display *display,
 	par->pdev = pdev;
 
 	if (display->buswidth == 0) {
-		dev_err(dev, "buswidth is not set\n");
-		return -EINVAL;
+		ret = dev_err_probe(dev, -EINVAL, "buswidth is not set\n");
+		goto out_release;
 	}
 
 	/* write register functions */