goto out;
        }
 
-       /* atomic tpm command send and result receive. We only hold the ops
-        * lock during this period so that the tpm can be unregistered even if
-        * the char dev is held open.
-        */
-       if (tpm_try_get_ops(priv->chip)) {
-               ret = -EPIPE;
-               goto out;
-       }
-
        priv->response_length = 0;
        priv->response_read = false;
        *off = 0;
        if (file->f_flags & O_NONBLOCK) {
                priv->command_enqueued = true;
                queue_work(tpm_dev_wq, &priv->async_work);
-               tpm_put_ops(priv->chip);
                mutex_unlock(&priv->buffer_mutex);
                return size;
        }
 
+       /* atomic tpm command send and result receive. We only hold the ops
+        * lock during this period so that the tpm can be unregistered even if
+        * the char dev is held open.
+        */
+       if (tpm_try_get_ops(priv->chip)) {
+               ret = -EPIPE;
+               goto out;
+       }
+
        ret = tpm_dev_transmit(priv->chip, priv->space, priv->data_buffer,
                               sizeof(priv->data_buffer));
        tpm_put_ops(priv->chip);