diff --git a/drivers/net/mdio/fwnode_mdio.c b/drivers/net/mdio/fwnode_mdio.c
index 1c1584fca632..40e745a1d185 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mdio/fwnode_mdio.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mdio/fwnode_mdio.c
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ int fwnode_mdiobus_register_phy(struct mii_bus *bus,
 		/* Associate the fwnode with the device structure so it
 		 * can be looked up later.
 		 */
-		phy->mdio.dev.fwnode = child;
+		phy->mdio.dev.fwnode = fwnode_handle_get(child);
 
 		/* All data is now stored in the phy struct, so register it */
 		rc = phy_device_register(phy);
diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c b/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
index 1dd521c99725..996842a1a9a3 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/phy_device.c
@@ -215,6 +215,7 @@ static void phy_mdio_device_free(struct mdio_device *mdiodev)
 
 static void phy_device_release(struct device *dev)
 {
+	fwnode_handle_put(dev->fwnode);
 	kfree(to_phy_device(dev));
 }