diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
index 016312437577..3c8512f7b64c 100644
--- a/drivers/base/core.c
+++ b/drivers/base/core.c
@@ -1372,6 +1372,8 @@ int device_for_each_child(struct device *parent, void *data,
  * if it does.  If the callback returns non-zero and a reference to the
  * current device can be obtained, this function will return to the caller
  * and not iterate over any more devices.
+ *
+ * NOTE: you will need to drop the reference with put_device() after use.
  */
 struct device *device_find_child(struct device *parent, void *data,
 				 int (*match)(struct device *dev, void *data))