diff --git a/src/mnode/src/mnodeVgroup.c b/src/mnode/src/mnodeVgroup.c
index 942372024124791c1cd9a8242ce381cc03dedd09..b3acf5d4d0836c3f7c422957cd15d3597e8dd199 100644
--- a/src/mnode/src/mnodeVgroup.c
+++ b/src/mnode/src/mnodeVgroup.c
@@ -450,6 +450,7 @@ int32_t mnodeGetAvailableVgroup(SMnodeMsg *pMsg, SVgObj **ppVgroup, int32_t *pSi
   }
 
   if (pDb->numOfVgroups < 1) {
+    pthread_mutex_unlock(&pDb->mutex);
     mDebug("app:%p:%p, db:%s, failed create new vgroup since:%s, numOfVgroups:%d maxVgroupsPerDb:%d ",
            pMsg->rpcMsg.ahandle, pMsg, pDb->name, tstrerror(code), pDb->numOfVgroups, maxVgroupsPerDb);
     return code;