diff --git a/include/sound/core.h b/include/sound/core.h
index 2ca24ac7e37f..15be947a730e 100644
--- a/include/sound/core.h
+++ b/include/sound/core.h
@@ -340,6 +340,15 @@ static inline void snd_card_unref(struct snd_card *card)
 
 DEFINE_FREE(snd_card_unref, struct snd_card *, if (_T) snd_card_unref(_T))
 
+/*
+ * For automatic error handling at probe time, assign the card like:
+ *	struct snd_card *card __free(snd_card_free) = NULL;
+ * then create and process as usual.
+ * But, don't forget to clear to NULL at successful return for avoiding
+ * the unexpected cleanup!
+ */
+DEFINE_FREE(snd_card_free, struct snd_card *, if (_T) snd_card_free(_T))
+
 #define snd_card_set_dev(card, devptr) ((card)->dev = (devptr))
 
 /* device.c */