diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index d9b721c172a6..1bec5a5c1e45 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -3005,6 +3005,10 @@ static struct buffer_head *ext4_get_first_dir_block(handle_t *handle,
 /*
  * Anybody can rename anything with this: the permission checks are left to the
  * higher-level routines.
+ *
+ * n.b.  old_{dentry,inode) refers to the source dentry/inode
+ * while new_{dentry,inode) refers to the destination dentry/inode
+ * This comes from rename(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
  */
 static int ext4_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
 		       struct inode *new_dir, struct dentry *new_dentry)
@@ -3013,7 +3017,7 @@ static int ext4_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
 	struct inode *old_inode, *new_inode;
 	struct buffer_head *old_bh, *new_bh, *dir_bh;
 	struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *old_de, *new_de;
-	int retval, force_da_alloc = 0;
+	int retval;
 	int inlined = 0, new_inlined = 0;
 	struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *parent_de;
 
@@ -3048,6 +3052,8 @@ static int ext4_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
 			new_bh = NULL;
 		}
 	}
+	if (new_inode && !test_opt(new_dir->i_sb, NO_AUTO_DA_ALLOC))
+		ext4_alloc_da_blocks(old_inode);
 
 	handle = ext4_journal_start(old_dir, EXT4_HT_DIR,
 		(2 * EXT4_DATA_TRANS_BLOCKS(old_dir->i_sb) +
@@ -3188,8 +3194,6 @@ static int ext4_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
 		ext4_mark_inode_dirty(handle, new_inode);
 		if (!new_inode->i_nlink)
 			ext4_orphan_add(handle, new_inode);
-		if (!test_opt(new_dir->i_sb, NO_AUTO_DA_ALLOC))
-			force_da_alloc = 1;
 	}
 	retval = 0;
 
@@ -3199,8 +3203,6 @@ end_rename:
 	brelse(new_bh);
 	if (handle)
 		ext4_journal_stop(handle);
-	if (retval == 0 && force_da_alloc)
-		ext4_alloc_da_blocks(old_inode);
 	return retval;
 }