diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
index 841c8d9..0dc4cbf 100644
--- a/fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/namei.c
@@ -2261,12 +2261,15 @@
 		dentry = d_alloc(dir, &nd->last);
 		if (!dentry) {
 			error = -ENOMEM;
+			mutex_unlock(&dir->d_inode->i_mutex);
 			goto out;
 		}
 		dentry = lookup_real(dir->d_inode, dentry, nd->flags);
 		error = PTR_ERR(dentry);
-		if (IS_ERR(dentry))
+		if (IS_ERR(dentry)) {
+			mutex_unlock(&dir->d_inode->i_mutex);
 			goto out;
+		}
 	}
 	mutex_unlock(&dir->d_inode->i_mutex);