diff --git a/exec.c b/exec.c
index 08c558eecf1502bfd6847ca59a3f48f32a395013..6fda4553fa8604fd7c4f9c919409f340f80c4929 100644
--- a/exec.c
+++ b/exec.c
@@ -2927,6 +2927,7 @@ bool address_space_access_valid(AddressSpace *as, hwaddr addr, int len, bool is_
         if (!memory_access_is_direct(mr, is_write)) {
             l = memory_access_size(mr, l, addr);
             if (!memory_region_access_valid(mr, xlat, l, is_write)) {
+                rcu_read_unlock();
                 return false;
             }
         }