diff --git a/drivers/block/nbd.c b/drivers/block/nbd.c
index 4ae6c221b36dc8..582b23befb5c45 100644
--- a/drivers/block/nbd.c
+++ b/drivers/block/nbd.c
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ static void nbd_dev_remove(struct nbd_device *nbd)
 	mutex_lock(&nbd_index_mutex);
 	idr_remove(&nbd_index_idr, nbd->index);
 	mutex_unlock(&nbd_index_mutex);
-
+	destroy_workqueue(nbd->recv_workq);
 	kfree(nbd);
 }
 
@@ -1260,10 +1260,6 @@ static void nbd_config_put(struct nbd_device *nbd)
 		kfree(nbd->config);
 		nbd->config = NULL;
 
-		if (nbd->recv_workq)
-			destroy_workqueue(nbd->recv_workq);
-		nbd->recv_workq = NULL;
-
 		nbd->tag_set.timeout = 0;
 		nbd->disk->queue->limits.discard_granularity = 0;
 		nbd->disk->queue->limits.discard_alignment = 0;
@@ -1292,14 +1288,6 @@ static int nbd_start_device(struct nbd_device *nbd)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	nbd->recv_workq = alloc_workqueue("knbd%d-recv",
-					  WQ_MEM_RECLAIM | WQ_HIGHPRI |
-					  WQ_UNBOUND, 0, nbd->index);
-	if (!nbd->recv_workq) {
-		dev_err(disk_to_dev(nbd->disk), "Could not allocate knbd recv work queue.\n");
-		return -ENOMEM;
-	}
-
 	blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues(&nbd->tag_set, config->num_connections);
 	nbd->pid = task_pid_nr(current);
 
@@ -1725,6 +1713,15 @@ static struct nbd_device *nbd_dev_add(int index, unsigned int refs)
 	}
 	nbd->disk = disk;
 
+	nbd->recv_workq = alloc_workqueue("nbd%d-recv",
+					  WQ_MEM_RECLAIM | WQ_HIGHPRI |
+					  WQ_UNBOUND, 0, nbd->index);
+	if (!nbd->recv_workq) {
+		dev_err(disk_to_dev(nbd->disk), "Could not allocate knbd recv work queue.\n");
+		err = -ENOMEM;
+		goto out_err_disk;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Tell the block layer that we are not a rotational device
 	 */
@@ -1755,7 +1752,7 @@ static struct nbd_device *nbd_dev_add(int index, unsigned int refs)
 	disk->first_minor = index << part_shift;
 	if (disk->first_minor < index || disk->first_minor > MINORMASK) {
 		err = -EINVAL;
-		goto out_err_disk;
+		goto out_free_work;
 	}
 
 	disk->minors = 1 << part_shift;
@@ -1764,7 +1761,7 @@ static struct nbd_device *nbd_dev_add(int index, unsigned int refs)
 	sprintf(disk->disk_name, "nbd%d", index);
 	err = add_disk(disk);
 	if (err)
-		goto out_err_disk;
+		goto out_free_work;
 
 	/*
 	 * Now publish the device.
@@ -1773,6 +1770,8 @@ static struct nbd_device *nbd_dev_add(int index, unsigned int refs)
 	nbd_total_devices++;
 	return nbd;
 
+out_free_work:
+	destroy_workqueue(nbd->recv_workq);
 out_err_disk:
 	blk_cleanup_disk(disk);
 out_free_idr:
@@ -2028,13 +2027,10 @@ static void nbd_disconnect_and_put(struct nbd_device *nbd)
 	nbd_disconnect(nbd);
 	sock_shutdown(nbd);
 	/*
-	 * Make sure recv thread has finished, so it does not drop the last
-	 * config ref and try to destroy the workqueue from inside the work
-	 * queue. And this also ensure that we can safely call nbd_clear_que()
+	 * Make sure recv thread has finished, we can safely call nbd_clear_que()
 	 * to cancel the inflight I/Os.
 	 */
-	if (nbd->recv_workq)
-		flush_workqueue(nbd->recv_workq);
+	flush_workqueue(nbd->recv_workq);
 	nbd_clear_que(nbd);
 	nbd->task_setup = NULL;
 	mutex_unlock(&nbd->config_lock);