diff --git a/fs/smb/server/vfs.c b/fs/smb/server/vfs.c
index 6528412eac2d..d0a0ad15d803 100644
--- a/fs/smb/server/vfs.c
+++ b/fs/smb/server/vfs.c
@@ -1575,14 +1575,15 @@ int ksmbd_vfs_set_dos_attrib_xattr(struct mnt_idmap *idmap,
 
 	err = ndr_encode_dos_attr(&n, da);
 	if (err)
-		return err;
+		goto out;
 
 	err = ksmbd_vfs_setxattr(idmap, path, XATTR_NAME_DOS_ATTRIBUTE,
 				 (void *)n.data, n.offset, 0, get_write);
 	if (err)
 		ksmbd_debug(SMB, "failed to store dos attribute in xattr\n");
-	kfree(n.data);
 
+out:
+	kfree(n.data);
 	return err;
 }