diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index 6509ec3cb373..073be36b0686 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -513,8 +513,10 @@ 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: