diff --git a/fs/ext4/inode.c b/fs/ext4/inode.c
index e659597b690b..97a28e9d4625 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/inode.c
@@ -4349,6 +4349,7 @@ static void ext4_free_branches(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 					(__le32 *) bh->b_data,
 					(__le32 *) bh->b_data + addr_per_block,
 					depth);
+			brelse(bh);
 
 			/*
 			 * Everything below this this pointer has been