diff --git a/fs/ext4/symlink.c b/fs/ext4/symlink.c
index 75bf1f88843c..645240cc0229 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/symlink.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/symlink.c
@@ -92,10 +92,12 @@ static const char *ext4_get_link(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode,
 
 	if (!dentry) {
 		bh = ext4_getblk(NULL, inode, 0, EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CACHED_NOWAIT);
-		if (IS_ERR(bh))
-			return ERR_CAST(bh);
-		if (!bh || !ext4_buffer_uptodate(bh))
+		if (IS_ERR(bh) || !bh)
 			return ERR_PTR(-ECHILD);
+		if (!ext4_buffer_uptodate(bh)) {
+			brelse(bh);
+			return ERR_PTR(-ECHILD);
+		}
 	} else {
 		bh = ext4_bread(NULL, inode, 0, 0);
 		if (IS_ERR(bh))