diff --git a/fs/cifs/smb2pdu.c b/fs/cifs/smb2pdu.c
index 21ad01d55ab2..5d1f8d2d44e4 100644
--- a/fs/cifs/smb2pdu.c
+++ b/fs/cifs/smb2pdu.c
@@ -3769,7 +3769,6 @@ SMB2_write(const unsigned int xid, struct cifs_io_parms *io_parms,
 
 	rc = cifs_send_recv(xid, io_parms->tcon->ses, &rqst,
 			    &resp_buftype, flags, &rsp_iov);
-	cifs_small_buf_release(req);
 	rsp = (struct smb2_write_rsp *)rsp_iov.iov_base;
 
 	if (rc) {
@@ -3787,6 +3786,7 @@ SMB2_write(const unsigned int xid, struct cifs_io_parms *io_parms,
 				     io_parms->offset, *nbytes);
 	}
 
+	cifs_small_buf_release(req);
 	free_rsp_buf(resp_buftype, rsp);
 	return rc;
 }