diff --git a/fs/f2fs/node.h b/fs/f2fs/node.h
index b24f588a0fe4dfe88f758b0aa8c00be49e8427dd..324917d757f78327bc7d9ca3548543fd4bc346b7 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/node.h
+++ b/fs/f2fs/node.h
@@ -115,9 +115,11 @@ static inline int next_free_nid(struct f2fs_sb_info *sbi, nid_t *nid)
 	struct f2fs_nm_info *nm_i = NM_I(sbi);
 	struct free_nid *fnid;
 
-	if (nm_i->fcnt <= 0)
-		return -1;
 	spin_lock(&nm_i->free_nid_list_lock);
+	if (nm_i->fcnt <= 0) {
+		spin_unlock(&nm_i->free_nid_list_lock);
+		return -1;
+	}
 	fnid = list_entry(nm_i->free_nid_list.next, struct free_nid, list);
 	*nid = fnid->nid;
 	spin_unlock(&nm_i->free_nid_list_lock);