diff --git a/fs/nfs/dir.c b/fs/nfs/dir.c
index 2817cce7a9f4..d8015a03db4c 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/dir.c
@@ -1539,9 +1539,9 @@ int nfs_atomic_open(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
 		err = PTR_ERR(inode);
 		trace_nfs_atomic_open_exit(dir, ctx, open_flags, err);
 		put_nfs_open_context(ctx);
+		d_drop(dentry);
 		switch (err) {
 		case -ENOENT:
-			d_drop(dentry);
 			d_add(dentry, NULL);
 			nfs_set_verifier(dentry, nfs_save_change_attribute(dir));
 			break;