diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/core/uverbs_uapi.c b/drivers/infiniband/core/uverbs_uapi.c
index b67db3790f03..aa0c980ad1e8 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/core/uverbs_uapi.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/core/uverbs_uapi.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ static void *uapi_add_elm(struct uverbs_api *uapi, u32 key, size_t alloc_size)
 {
 	void *elm;
 	int rc;
+	static void *dummy;
 
 	if (key == UVERBS_API_KEY_ERR)
 		return ERR_PTR(-EOVERFLOW);
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@ static void *uapi_add_elm(struct uverbs_api *uapi, u32 key, size_t alloc_size)
 	rc = radix_tree_insert(&uapi->radix, key, elm);
 	if (rc) {
 		kfree(elm);
+		if (rc == -ENOMEM &&
+                    !radix_tree_insert(&uapi->radix, key, &dummy))
+			radix_tree_delete(&uapi->radix, key);
 		return ERR_PTR(rc);
 	}