diff --git a/fs/btrfs/relocation.c b/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
index a7f9aa5f05aa..d1c5cd90b182 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
@@ -1141,7 +1141,7 @@ struct backref_node *build_backref_tree(struct reloc_control *rc,
 			free_backref_node(cache, lower);
 		}
 
-		free_backref_node(cache, node);
+		remove_backref_node(cache, node);
 		return ERR_PTR(err);
 	}
 	ASSERT(!node || !node->detached);