diff --git a/kernel/umh.c b/kernel/umh.c
index 53611efb10cb4e08d4b50e46d977a74cfd6fc2e7..715b4368f9edf391569022884240c16003e9f190 100644
--- a/kernel/umh.c
+++ b/kernel/umh.c
@@ -495,6 +495,12 @@ static void umh_clean_and_save_pid(struct subprocess_info *info)
 {
 	struct umh_info *umh_info = info->data;
 
+	/* cleanup if umh_pipe_setup() was successful but exec failed */
+	if (info->pid && info->retval) {
+		fput(umh_info->pipe_to_umh);
+		fput(umh_info->pipe_from_umh);
+	}
+
 	argv_free(info->argv);
 	umh_info->pid = info->pid;
 }