diff --git a/drivers/android/binder.c b/drivers/android/binder.c
index 5b310eea9e527c5fdd8ba526a10e47c13831f06f..2123655ebb7c3693dce7f83106e02fe159ccad85 100644
--- a/drivers/android/binder.c
+++ b/drivers/android/binder.c
@@ -1969,9 +1969,8 @@ static void binder_send_failed_reply(struct binder_transaction *t,
 			binder_thread_dec_tmpref(target_thread);
 			binder_free_transaction(t);
 			return;
-		} else {
-			__release(&target_thread->proc->inner_lock);
 		}
+		__release(&target_thread->proc->inner_lock);
 		next = t->from_parent;
 
 		binder_debug(BINDER_DEBUG_FAILED_TRANSACTION,