diff --git a/fs/ceph/inode.c b/fs/ceph/inode.c
index ebc7bdaed2d0d3674013b4800bf4e0265eada596..4055ab4d5c52faf8cf9f497db7c5c8baa7283ceb 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/inode.c
@@ -1132,8 +1132,12 @@ static struct dentry *splice_dentry(struct dentry *dn, struct inode *in)
 	if (IS_ERR(realdn)) {
 		pr_err("splice_dentry error %ld %p inode %p ino %llx.%llx\n",
 		       PTR_ERR(realdn), dn, in, ceph_vinop(in));
-		dput(dn);
-		dn = realdn; /* note realdn contains the error */
+		dn = realdn;
+		/*
+		 * Caller should release 'dn' in the case of error.
+		 * If 'req->r_dentry' is passed to this function,
+		 * caller should leave 'req->r_dentry' untouched.
+		 */
 		goto out;
 	} else if (realdn) {
 		dout("dn %p (%d) spliced with %p (%d) "