diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-sun6i-p2wi.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-sun6i-p2wi.c
index fb5280b8cf7f..652b37b57159 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-sun6i-p2wi.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-sun6i-p2wi.c
@@ -184,7 +184,6 @@ static int p2wi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 {
 	struct device *dev = &pdev->dev;
 	struct device_node *np = dev->of_node;
-	struct device_node *childnp;
 	unsigned long parent_clk_freq;
 	u32 clk_freq = I2C_MAX_STANDARD_MODE_FREQ;
 	struct p2wi *p2wi;
@@ -223,7 +222,8 @@ static int p2wi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	 * In this case the target_addr is set to -1 and won't be checked when
 	 * launching a P2WI transfer.
 	 */
-	childnp = of_get_next_available_child(np, NULL);
+	struct device_node *childnp __free(device_node) =
+		of_get_next_available_child(np, NULL);
 	if (childnp) {
 		ret = of_property_read_u32(childnp, "reg", &target_addr);
 		if (ret) {