diff --git a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_iops.c b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_iops.c
index 64c3395074de..af487437bd7e 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_iops.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_iops.c
@@ -491,6 +491,8 @@ xfs_vn_symlink(
 			d_instantiate(dentry, ip);
 			xfs_validate_fields(dir, &vattr);
 			xfs_validate_fields(ip, &vattr);
+		} else {
+			xfs_cleanup_inode(dvp, cvp, dentry, 0);
 		}
 	}
 	return -error;