diff --git a/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.c b/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.c
index 3d0371857f3..9434b834a79 100644
--- a/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.c
+++ b/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.c
@@ -1018,6 +1018,7 @@ int lwm2m_init_message(struct lwm2m_message *msg)
 			goto cleanup;
 		}
 
+		coap_reply_clear(msg->reply);
 		coap_reply_init(msg->reply, &msg->cpkt);
 		msg->reply->reply = msg->reply_cb;
 	}
@@ -3446,6 +3447,14 @@ void lwm2m_udp_receive(struct lwm2m_ctx *client_ctx, struct net_pkt *pkt,
 	}
 
 	if (reply || pending) {
+		/* skip release if reply->user_data has error condition */
+		if (reply && reply->user_data != COAP_REPLY_STATUS_NONE) {
+			/* reset reply->user_data for next time */
+			reply->user_data = (void *)COAP_REPLY_STATUS_NONE;
+			SYS_LOG_DBG("reply %p NOT removed", reply);
+			goto cleanup;
+		}
+
 		/* free up msg resources */
 		if (msg) {
 			lwm2m_reset_message(msg, true);
diff --git a/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.h b/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.h
index 4555ce7216b..135b9eabb3d 100644
--- a/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.h
+++ b/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_engine.h
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@
 /* length of time in milliseconds to wait for buffer allocations */
 #define BUF_ALLOC_TIMEOUT K_SECONDS(1)
 
+/* coap reply status */
+#define COAP_REPLY_STATUS_NONE		0
+#define COAP_REPLY_STATUS_ERROR		1
+
 struct lwm2m_message;
 
 /* Establish a message timeout callback */
diff --git a/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_obj_firmware_pull.c b/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_obj_firmware_pull.c
index fbab08d7a38..043b5f7761a 100644
--- a/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_obj_firmware_pull.c
+++ b/subsys/net/lib/lwm2m/lwm2m_obj_firmware_pull.c
@@ -308,6 +308,9 @@ do_firmware_transfer_reply_cb(const struct coap_packet *response,
 		/* restore main firmware block context */
 		memcpy(&firmware_block_ctx, &received_block_ctx,
 		       sizeof(firmware_block_ctx));
+
+		/* set reply->user_data to error to avoid releasing */
+		reply->user_data = (void *)COAP_REPLY_STATUS_ERROR;
 		return 0;
 	}