diff --git a/fs/configfs/dir.c b/fs/configfs/dir.c
index cf7b7e1d5bd7..cb733652ecca 100644
--- a/fs/configfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/configfs/dir.c
@@ -1519,6 +1519,7 @@ static int configfs_rmdir(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 		spin_lock(&configfs_dirent_lock);
 		configfs_detach_rollback(dentry);
 		spin_unlock(&configfs_dirent_lock);
+		config_item_put(parent_item);
 		return -EINTR;
 	}
 	frag->frag_dead = true;