diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
index 13c548733860..928a0b2c05dc 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c
@@ -1205,6 +1205,7 @@ out:
 	inode_unlock(dir);
 	return dentry;
 out_err:
+	dput(dentry);
 	dentry = ERR_PTR(ret);
 	goto out;
 }