diff --git a/fs/rpmsgfs/rpmsgfs_client.c b/fs/rpmsgfs/rpmsgfs_client.c
index 5e2924ead2..c884a514ac 100644
--- a/fs/rpmsgfs/rpmsgfs_client.c
+++ b/fs/rpmsgfs/rpmsgfs_client.c
@@ -744,6 +744,7 @@ int rpmsgfs_client_bind(FAR void **handle, FAR const char *cpuname)
       return -ENOMEM;
     }
 
+  nxsem_init(&priv->wait, 0, 0);
   strlcpy(priv->cpuname, cpuname, sizeof(priv->cpuname));
   ret = rpmsg_register_callback(priv,
                                 rpmsgfs_device_created,
@@ -752,11 +753,11 @@ int rpmsgfs_client_bind(FAR void **handle, FAR const char *cpuname)
                                 NULL);
   if (ret < 0)
     {
+      nxsem_destroy(&priv->wait);
       fs_heap_free(priv);
       return ret;
     }
 
-  nxsem_init(&priv->wait, 0, 0);
   *handle = priv;
 
   return 0;