diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
index f0a45d3ec4eb..0df0a3ecba37 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -1550,7 +1550,8 @@ static int ext4_xattr_inode_lookup_create(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 
 	err = ext4_xattr_inode_write(handle, ea_inode, value, value_len);
 	if (err) {
-		ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref(handle, ea_inode);
+		if (ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref(handle, ea_inode))
+			ext4_warning_inode(ea_inode, "cleanup dec ref error %d", err);
 		iput(ea_inode);
 		return err;
 	}