diff --git a/fs/btrfs/relocation.c b/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
index 13c9a48c83b02c7217d83682b60c8deb3f8577e7..97cafe7291b80b8850323887685df34f370b76e7 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
@@ -1171,8 +1171,12 @@ struct backref_node *build_backref_tree(struct reloc_control *rc,
 			lower = list_entry(useless.next,
 					   struct backref_node, list);
 			list_del_init(&lower->list);
+			if (lower == node)
+				node = NULL;
 			free_backref_node(cache, lower);
 		}
+
+		free_backref_node(cache, node);
 		return ERR_PTR(err);
 	}
 	ASSERT(!node || !node->detached);