diff --git a/src/node_crypto.cc b/src/node_crypto.cc
index c62106381023f6..eb5a3573167dd2 100644
--- a/src/node_crypto.cc
+++ b/src/node_crypto.cc
@@ -6085,9 +6085,8 @@ class RSAKeyPairGenerationConfig : public KeyPairGenerationConfig {
       CHECK_NOT_NULL(bn.get());
       CHECK(BN_set_word(bn.get(), exponent_));
       // EVP_CTX acceps ownership of bn on success.
-      if (EVP_PKEY_CTX_set_rsa_keygen_pubexp(ctx.get(), bn.get()) <= 0)
+      if (EVP_PKEY_CTX_set_rsa_keygen_pubexp(ctx.get(), bn.release()) <= 0)
         return false;
-      bn.release();
     }
 
     return true;