diff --git a/fs/btrfs/inode.c b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
index 7d394335bcb5..e16215f480d0 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
@@ -2201,6 +2201,9 @@ int btrfs_orphan_cleanup(struct btrfs_root *root)
 		if (ret)
 			goto out;
 	}
+	/* release the path since we're done with it */
+	btrfs_release_path(path);
+
 	root->orphan_cleanup_state = ORPHAN_CLEANUP_DONE;
 
 	if (root->orphan_block_rsv)