diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index 25be2ab6ff6c..0b4ee1ab25df 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -517,8 +517,10 @@ static int ovl_create_over_whiteout(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode,
 			goto out_cleanup;
 	}
 	err = ovl_instantiate(dentry, inode, newdentry, hardlink);
-	if (err)
-		goto out_cleanup;
+	if (err) {
+		ovl_cleanup(udir, newdentry);
+		dput(newdentry);
+	}
 out_dput:
 	dput(upper);
 out_unlock: