diff --git a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
index ce48eb59d6156dd72b8cfe4344e50411abe47d98..d01cc249a8d36188986fa70b073b054c550cf937 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ static struct btrfs_trans_handle *start_transaction(struct btrfs_root *root,
 
 	ret = join_transaction(root);
 	if (ret < 0) {
+		kmem_cache_free(btrfs_trans_handle_cachep, h);
 		if (type != TRANS_JOIN_NOLOCK)
 			mutex_unlock(&root->fs_info->trans_mutex);
 		return ERR_PTR(ret);