diff --git a/src/libcamera/device_enumerator.cpp b/src/libcamera/device_enumerator.cpp
index f6878b3d58b3f966..caf91dcff6efd564 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/device_enumerator.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/device_enumerator.cpp
@@ -205,11 +205,7 @@ int DeviceEnumerator::addDevice(const std::string &deviceNode)
 {
 	std::shared_ptr<MediaDevice> media = std::make_shared<MediaDevice>(deviceNode);
 
-	int ret = media->open();
-	if (ret < 0)
-		return ret;
-
-	ret = media->populate();
+	int ret = media->populate();
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		LOG(DeviceEnumerator, Info)
 			<< "Unable to populate media device " << deviceNode
@@ -236,8 +232,6 @@ int DeviceEnumerator::addDevice(const std::string &deviceNode)
 			return ret;
 	}
 
-	media->close();
-
 	LOG(DeviceEnumerator, Debug)
 		<< "Added device " << deviceNode << ": " << media->driver();
 
diff --git a/src/libcamera/media_device.cpp b/src/libcamera/media_device.cpp
index 449571fb4b78fb94..4b3b8f1fa3e6aaad 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/media_device.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/media_device.cpp
@@ -221,6 +221,10 @@ int MediaDevice::populate()
 
 	clear();
 
+	ret = open();
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	/*
 	 * Keep calling G_TOPOLOGY until the version number stays stable.
 	 */
@@ -237,8 +241,9 @@ int MediaDevice::populate()
 			LOG(MediaDevice, Error)
 				<< "Failed to enumerate topology: "
 				<< strerror(-ret);
-			return ret;
+			goto done;
 		}
+		ret = 0;
 
 		if (version == topology.topology_version)
 			break;
@@ -262,6 +267,9 @@ int MediaDevice::populate()
 	    populateLinks(topology))
 		valid_ = true;
 
+done:
+	close();
+
 	delete[] ents;
 	delete[] interfaces;
 	delete[] pads;
@@ -272,7 +280,7 @@ int MediaDevice::populate()
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	return 0;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/media_device/media_device_print_test.cpp b/test/media_device/media_device_print_test.cpp
index 3eef973939201b27..ceffd538e13fca73 100644
--- a/test/media_device/media_device_print_test.cpp
+++ b/test/media_device/media_device_print_test.cpp
@@ -124,10 +124,6 @@ int MediaDevicePrintTest::testMediaDevice(const string deviceNode)
 
 	dev.close();
 
-	ret = dev.open();
-	if (ret)
-		return ret;
-
 	ret = dev.populate();
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
@@ -135,8 +131,6 @@ int MediaDevicePrintTest::testMediaDevice(const string deviceNode)
 	/* Print out the media graph. */
 	printMediaGraph(dev, cerr);
 
-	dev.close();
-
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/test/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3_pipeline_test.cpp b/test/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3_pipeline_test.cpp
index 953f0233cde485cb..1d4cc4d4950b8391 100644
--- a/test/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3_pipeline_test.cpp
+++ b/test/pipeline/ipu3/ipu3_pipeline_test.cpp
@@ -71,11 +71,6 @@ int IPU3PipelineTest::init()
 		return TestSkip;
 	}
 
-	if (cio2->open()) {
-		cerr << "Failed to open media device " << cio2->deviceNode() << endl;
-		return TestFail;
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * Camera sensor are connected to the CIO2 unit.
 	 * Count how many sensors are connected in the system
diff --git a/test/v4l2_device/v4l2_device_test.cpp b/test/v4l2_device/v4l2_device_test.cpp
index 90e5f7a3ee0c0f2f..833038d56ea4631d 100644
--- a/test/v4l2_device/v4l2_device_test.cpp
+++ b/test/v4l2_device/v4l2_device_test.cpp
@@ -46,9 +46,6 @@ int V4L2DeviceTest::init()
 	if (!media_)
 		return TestSkip;
 
-	if (!media_->acquire())
-		return TestSkip;
-
 	MediaEntity *entity = media_->getEntityByName("vivid-000-vid-cap");
 	if (!entity)
 		return TestSkip;
@@ -62,8 +59,6 @@ int V4L2DeviceTest::init()
 
 void V4L2DeviceTest::cleanup()
 {
-	media_->release();
-
 	capture_->streamOff();
 	capture_->releaseBuffers();
 	capture_->close();
diff --git a/test/v4l2_subdevice/v4l2_subdevice_test.cpp b/test/v4l2_subdevice/v4l2_subdevice_test.cpp
index 4e16ab6cf3e5f874..562a638cb28ebfb2 100644
--- a/test/v4l2_subdevice/v4l2_subdevice_test.cpp
+++ b/test/v4l2_subdevice/v4l2_subdevice_test.cpp
@@ -45,33 +45,16 @@ int V4L2SubdeviceTest::init()
 		return TestSkip;
 	}
 
-	if (!media_->acquire()) {
-		cerr << "Unable to acquire media device "
-		     << media_->deviceNode() << endl;
-		return TestSkip;
-	}
-
-	int ret = media_->open();
-	if (ret) {
-		cerr << "Unable to open media device: " << media_->deviceNode()
-		     << ": " << strerror(ret) << endl;
-		media_->release();
-		return TestSkip;
-	}
-
 	MediaEntity *videoEntity = media_->getEntityByName("Scaler");
 	if (!videoEntity) {
 		cerr << "Unable to find media entity 'Scaler'" << endl;
-		media_->release();
 		return TestFail;
 	}
 
 	scaler_ = new V4L2Subdevice(videoEntity);
-	ret = scaler_->open();
-	if (ret) {
+	if (scaler_->open()) {
 		cerr << "Unable to open video subdevice "
 		     << scaler_->entity()->deviceNode() << endl;
-		media_->release();
 		return TestSkip;
 	}
 
@@ -80,7 +63,5 @@ int V4L2SubdeviceTest::init()
 
 void V4L2SubdeviceTest::cleanup()
 {
-	media_->release();
-
 	delete scaler_;
 }