diff --git a/sound/core/init.c b/sound/core/init.c
index 362588e3a275..7b3618997d34 100644
--- a/sound/core/init.c
+++ b/sound/core/init.c
@@ -178,10 +178,8 @@ int snd_card_new(struct device *parent, int idx, const char *xid,
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
 	err = snd_card_init(card, parent, idx, xid, module, extra_size);
-	if (err < 0) {
-		kfree(card);
-		return err;
-	}
+	if (err < 0)
+		return err; /* card is freed by error handler */
 
 	*card_ret = card;
 	return 0;
@@ -231,7 +229,7 @@ int snd_devm_card_new(struct device *parent, int idx, const char *xid,
 	card->managed = true;
 	err = snd_card_init(card, parent, idx, xid, module, extra_size);
 	if (err < 0) {
-		devres_free(card);
+		devres_free(card); /* in managed mode, we need to free manually */
 		return err;
 	}
 
@@ -293,6 +291,8 @@ static int snd_card_init(struct snd_card *card, struct device *parent,
 		mutex_unlock(&snd_card_mutex);
 		dev_err(parent, "cannot find the slot for index %d (range 0-%i), error: %d\n",
 			 idx, snd_ecards_limit - 1, err);
+		if (!card->managed)
+			kfree(card); /* manually free here, as no destructor called */
 		return err;
 	}
 	set_bit(idx, snd_cards_lock);		/* lock it */