diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
index e75bac97609c..346334cadb6a 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -1425,6 +1425,9 @@ static struct inode *ext4_xattr_inode_create(handle_t *handle,
 		if (!err)
 			err = ext4_inode_attach_jinode(ea_inode);
 		if (err) {
+			if (ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref(handle, ea_inode))
+				ext4_warning_inode(ea_inode,
+					"cleanup dec ref error %d", err);
 			iput(ea_inode);
 			return ERR_PTR(err);
 		}