diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
index 1bff752d1b596616548ed00e9939542739f2ddbb..3369157df852f25219426e5e66c9de696206f1b6 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -484,18 +484,19 @@ ext4_xattr_release_block(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 		ext4_free_blocks(handle, inode, bh, 0, 1,
 				 EXT4_FREE_BLOCKS_METADATA |
 				 EXT4_FREE_BLOCKS_FORGET);
+		unlock_buffer(bh);
 	} else {
 		le32_add_cpu(&BHDR(bh)->h_refcount, -1);
+		if (ce)
+			mb_cache_entry_release(ce);
+		unlock_buffer(bh);
 		error = ext4_handle_dirty_metadata(handle, inode, bh);
 		if (IS_SYNC(inode))
 			ext4_handle_sync(handle);
 		dquot_free_block(inode, 1);
 		ea_bdebug(bh, "refcount now=%d; releasing",
 			  le32_to_cpu(BHDR(bh)->h_refcount));
-		if (ce)
-			mb_cache_entry_release(ce);
 	}
-	unlock_buffer(bh);
 out:
 	ext4_std_error(inode->i_sb, error);
 	return;