diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
index 596ed6a42022..be418fccc9d8 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
@@ -1335,6 +1335,7 @@ void nfsd_client_rmdir(struct dentry *dentry)
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(ret);
 	fsnotify_rmdir(dir, dentry);
 	d_delete(dentry);
+	dput(dentry);
 	inode_unlock(dir);
 }