diff --git a/drivers/of/unittest.c b/drivers/of/unittest.c
index 891752a20a5f740c5aca6ee6fedeeecf55d640cc..4c67de37bf2636c09583e0aac32bea93dc27fb96 100644
--- a/drivers/of/unittest.c
+++ b/drivers/of/unittest.c
@@ -1744,20 +1744,16 @@ static int __init unittest_data_add(void)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	/* attach the sub-tree to live tree */
 	if (!of_root) {
-		of_root = unittest_data_node;
-		for_each_of_allnodes(np)
-			__of_attach_node_sysfs(np);
-		of_aliases = of_find_node_by_path("/aliases");
-		of_chosen = of_find_node_by_path("/chosen");
-		of_overlay_mutex_unlock();
-		return 0;
+		pr_warn("%s: no live tree to attach sub-tree\n", __func__);
+		kfree(unittest_data);
+		return -ENODEV;
 	}
 
 	EXPECT_BEGIN(KERN_INFO,
 		     "Duplicate name in testcase-data, renamed to \"duplicate-name#1\"");
 
-	/* attach the sub-tree to live tree */
 	np = unittest_data_node->child;
 	while (np) {
 		struct device_node *next = np->sibling;