diff --git a/fs/ext4/resize.c b/fs/ext4/resize.c
index 7131f35b62d9..3df326ee6d50 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/resize.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/resize.c
@@ -1121,8 +1121,10 @@ static void update_backups(struct super_block *sb, sector_t blk_off, char *data,
 			   backup_block, backup_block -
 			   ext4_group_first_block_no(sb, group));
 		BUFFER_TRACE(bh, "get_write_access");
-		if ((err = ext4_journal_get_write_access(handle, bh)))
+		if ((err = ext4_journal_get_write_access(handle, bh))) {
+			brelse(bh);
 			break;
+		}
 		lock_buffer(bh);
 		memcpy(bh->b_data, data, size);
 		if (rest)