diff --git a/sys/net/if_tap.c b/sys/net/if_tap.c
index 17f371d9138..670ac690705 100644
--- a/sys/net/if_tap.c
+++ b/sys/net/if_tap.c
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ tapmodevent(mod, type, data)
 		clone_setup(&tapclones);
 		eh_tag = EVENTHANDLER_REGISTER(dev_clone, tapclone, 0, 1000);
 		if (eh_tag == NULL) {
+			clone_cleanup(&tapclones);
 			mtx_destroy(&tapmtx);
 			return (ENOMEM);
 		}