diff --git a/sys/dev/sound/pcm/sound.c b/sys/dev/sound/pcm/sound.c
index 85efa2634fd..ddf466b6f97 100644
--- a/sys/dev/sound/pcm/sound.c
+++ b/sys/dev/sound/pcm/sound.c
@@ -428,14 +428,13 @@ pcm_chn_add(struct snddev_info *d, struct pcm_channel *ch, int mkdev)
     	struct snddev_channel *sce, *tmp, *after;
     	int unit = device_get_unit(d->dev);
 
-	snd_mtxlock(d->lock);
-
 	sce = malloc(sizeof(*sce), M_DEVBUF, M_WAITOK | M_ZERO);
 	if (!sce) {
-		snd_mtxunlock(d->lock);
 		return ENOMEM;
 	}
 
+	snd_mtxlock(d->lock);
+
 	sce->channel = ch;
 	if (SLIST_EMPTY(&d->channels)) {
 		SLIST_INSERT_HEAD(&d->channels, sce, link);