diff --git a/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c b/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c
index a02061028b71..fed9573cf355 100644
--- a/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c
+++ b/drivers/cxl/core/memdev.c
@@ -559,8 +559,8 @@ static void cxl_memdev_unregister(void *_cxlmd)
 	struct cxl_memdev *cxlmd = _cxlmd;
 	struct device *dev = &cxlmd->dev;
 
-	cxl_memdev_shutdown(dev);
 	cdev_device_del(&cxlmd->cdev, dev);
+	cxl_memdev_shutdown(dev);
 	put_device(dev);
 }