diff --git a/channel.c b/channel.c
index e7b839e7..4b5e0c08 100644
--- a/channel.c
+++ b/channel.c
@@ -179,6 +179,9 @@ void mt76_unassign_vif_chanctx(struct ieee80211_hw *hw,
    dev->drv->vif_link_remove(phy, vif, link_conf, mlink);
    mlink->ctx = NULL;

+   if (mlink == (struct mt76_vif_link *)vif->drv_priv)
+       goto out;
+
    if (link_conf != &vif->bss_conf)
        kfree_rcu(mlink, rcu_head);