diff --git a/fs/ubifs/tnc.c b/fs/ubifs/tnc.c
index 7c36b6677430..07470449b960 100644
--- a/fs/ubifs/tnc.c
+++ b/fs/ubifs/tnc.c
@@ -267,11 +267,18 @@ static struct ubifs_znode *dirty_cow_znode(struct ubifs_info *c,
 	if (zbr->len) {
 		err = insert_old_idx(c, zbr->lnum, zbr->offs);
 		if (unlikely(err))
-			return ERR_PTR(err);
+			/*
+			 * Obsolete znodes will be freed by tnc_destroy_cnext()
+			 * or free_obsolete_znodes(), copied up znodes should
+			 * be added back to tnc and freed by
+			 * ubifs_destroy_tnc_subtree().
+			 */
+			goto out;
 		err = add_idx_dirt(c, zbr->lnum, zbr->len);
 	} else
 		err = 0;
 
+out:
 	zbr->znode = zn;
 	zbr->lnum = 0;
 	zbr->offs = 0;