diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index f6a63029b24d..aa08e129149d 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ static struct buffer_head *__ext4_read_dirblock(struct inode *inode,
 	if (!is_dx_block && type == INDEX) {
 		ext4_error_inode(inode, func, line, block,
 		       "directory leaf block found instead of index block");
+		brelse(bh);
 		return ERR_PTR(-EFSCORRUPTED);
 	}
 	if (!ext4_has_metadata_csum(inode->i_sb) ||