diff --git a/fs/ext4/inode.c b/fs/ext4/inode.c
index 09014c3c4207..90c485ea11fa 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/inode.c
@@ -4246,28 +4246,28 @@ int ext4_punch_hole(struct inode *inode, loff_t offset, loff_t length)
 		EXT4_BLOCK_SIZE_BITS(sb);
 	stop_block = (offset + length) >> EXT4_BLOCK_SIZE_BITS(sb);
 
-	/* If there are no blocks to remove, return now */
-	if (first_block >= stop_block)
-		goto out_stop;
+	/* If there are blocks to remove, do it */
+	if (stop_block > first_block) {
 
-	down_write(&EXT4_I(inode)->i_data_sem);
-	ext4_discard_preallocations(inode);
+		down_write(&EXT4_I(inode)->i_data_sem);
+		ext4_discard_preallocations(inode);
+
+		ret = ext4_es_remove_extent(inode, first_block,
+					    stop_block - first_block);
+		if (ret) {
+			up_write(&EXT4_I(inode)->i_data_sem);
+			goto out_stop;
+		}
+
+		if (ext4_test_inode_flag(inode, EXT4_INODE_EXTENTS))
+			ret = ext4_ext_remove_space(inode, first_block,
+						    stop_block - 1);
+		else
+			ret = ext4_ind_remove_space(handle, inode, first_block,
+						    stop_block);
 
-	ret = ext4_es_remove_extent(inode, first_block,
-				    stop_block - first_block);
-	if (ret) {
 		up_write(&EXT4_I(inode)->i_data_sem);
-		goto out_stop;
 	}
-
-	if (ext4_test_inode_flag(inode, EXT4_INODE_EXTENTS))
-		ret = ext4_ext_remove_space(inode, first_block,
-					    stop_block - 1);
-	else
-		ret = ext4_ind_remove_space(handle, inode, first_block,
-					    stop_block);
-
-	up_write(&EXT4_I(inode)->i_data_sem);
 	if (IS_SYNC(inode))
 		ext4_handle_sync(handle);