diff --git a/drivers/char/synclink_gt.c b/drivers/char/synclink_gt.c
index bbb7f12..2f97d2f 100644
--- a/drivers/char/synclink_gt.c
+++ b/drivers/char/synclink_gt.c
@@ -1565,6 +1565,9 @@
 	int rc;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
+	if (!try_module_get(THIS_MODULE))
+		return -EBUSY;
+
 	DBGINFO(("%s hdlcdev_open\n", dev->name));
 
 	/* generic HDLC layer open processing */
@@ -1634,6 +1637,7 @@
 	info->netcount=0;
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&info->netlock, flags);
 
+	module_put(THIS_MODULE);
 	return 0;
 }