context->buf.sg[0].data = &context->command;
 
        spin_lock_irqsave(&fdev->ipsec->pending_cmds_lock, flags);
-       list_add_tail(&context->list, &fdev->ipsec->pending_cmds);
+       res = mlx5_fpga_sbu_conn_sendmsg(fdev->ipsec->conn, &context->buf);
+       if (!res)
+               list_add_tail(&context->list, &fdev->ipsec->pending_cmds);
        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&fdev->ipsec->pending_cmds_lock, flags);
 
-       res = mlx5_fpga_sbu_conn_sendmsg(fdev->ipsec->conn, &context->buf);
        if (res) {
-               mlx5_fpga_warn(fdev, "Failure sending IPSec command: %d\n",
-                              res);
-               spin_lock_irqsave(&fdev->ipsec->pending_cmds_lock, flags);
-               list_del(&context->list);
-               spin_unlock_irqrestore(&fdev->ipsec->pending_cmds_lock, flags);
+               mlx5_fpga_warn(fdev, "Failed to send IPSec command: %d\n", res);
                kfree(context);
                return ERR_PTR(res);
        }
+
        /* Context will be freed by wait func after completion */
        return context;
 }