diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
index dc1aeab06dba..07c3a115f7ae 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -2272,8 +2272,10 @@ static struct buffer_head *ext4_xattr_get_block(struct inode *inode)
 	if (!bh)
 		return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
 	error = ext4_xattr_check_block(inode, bh);
-	if (error)
+	if (error) {
+		brelse(bh);
 		return ERR_PTR(error);
+	}
 	return bh;
 }