diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/namei.c b/fs/overlayfs/namei.c
index 3fe05fb5d14592..71e264e2f16b6d 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/namei.c
@@ -919,6 +919,7 @@ struct dentry *ovl_lookup(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
 			continue;
 
 		if ((uppermetacopy || d.metacopy) && !ofs->config.metacopy) {
+			dput(this);
 			err = -EPERM;
 			pr_warn_ratelimited("refusing to follow metacopy origin for (%pd2)\n", dentry);
 			goto out_put;