diff --git a/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h b/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h
index 344b0f972828..8f928f75e85e 100644
--- a/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h
+++ b/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ enum {
 	HCI_SERVICE_CACHE,
 	HCI_LINK_KEYS,
 	HCI_DEBUG_KEYS,
+	HCI_UNREGISTER,
 
 	HCI_LE_SCAN,
 	HCI_SSP_ENABLED,
diff --git a/net/bluetooth/hci_core.c b/net/bluetooth/hci_core.c
index 59ec99eb739b..2054c1321c87 100644
--- a/net/bluetooth/hci_core.c
+++ b/net/bluetooth/hci_core.c
@@ -666,6 +666,11 @@ int hci_dev_open(__u16 dev)
 
 	hci_req_lock(hdev);
 
+	if (test_bit(HCI_UNREGISTER, &hdev->dev_flags)) {
+		ret = -ENODEV;
+		goto done;
+	}
+
 	if (hdev->rfkill && rfkill_blocked(hdev->rfkill)) {
 		ret = -ERFKILL;
 		goto done;
@@ -1850,6 +1855,8 @@ void hci_unregister_dev(struct hci_dev *hdev)
 
 	BT_DBG("%p name %s bus %d", hdev, hdev->name, hdev->bus);
 
+	set_bit(HCI_UNREGISTER, &hdev->dev_flags);
+
 	write_lock(&hci_dev_list_lock);
 	list_del(&hdev->list);
 	write_unlock(&hci_dev_list_lock);