diff --git a/drivers/scsi/esas2r/esas2r_flash.c b/drivers/scsi/esas2r/esas2r_flash.c
index 7bd376d95ed5225e0490ce4939775aa609eea74f..b02ac389e6c6050fc92696d480131db15678ebb4 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/esas2r/esas2r_flash.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/esas2r/esas2r_flash.c
@@ -1197,6 +1197,7 @@ bool esas2r_nvram_read_direct(struct esas2r_adapter *a)
 	if (!esas2r_read_flash_block(a, a->nvram, FLS_OFFSET_NVR,
 				     sizeof(struct esas2r_sas_nvram))) {
 		esas2r_hdebug("NVRAM read failed, using defaults");
+		up(&a->nvram_semaphore);
 		return false;
 	}