diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index afb8d53ca6c7..468e410f9e61 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -4344,8 +4344,10 @@ static long cgroup_create(struct cgroup *parent, struct dentry *dentry,
 		}
 
 		err = percpu_ref_init(&css->refcnt, css_release);
-		if (err)
+		if (err) {
+			ss->css_free(cgrp);
 			goto err_free_all;
+		}
 
 		init_cgroup_css(css, ss, cgrp);