diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/fix-return-code-on-upload-error.md b/changelog/unreleased/fix-return-code-on-upload-error.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2619e83d35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/fix-return-code-on-upload-error.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Bugfix: return 409 conflict when a file was already created
+
+We now return the correct 409 conflict status code when a file was already created by another upload.
+
+https://github.com/cs3org/reva/pull/4872
diff --git a/pkg/storage/utils/decomposedfs/upload/upload.go b/pkg/storage/utils/decomposedfs/upload/upload.go
index ae56604290..0c41b8f759 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/utils/decomposedfs/upload/upload.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/utils/decomposedfs/upload/upload.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"hash"
 	"io"
 	"io/fs"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -47,14 +48,16 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 )
 
-var tracer trace.Tracer
+var (
+	tracer           trace.Tracer
+	ErrAlreadyExists = tusd.NewError("ERR_ALREADY_EXISTS", "file already exists", http.StatusConflict)
+	defaultFilePerm  = os.FileMode(0664)
+)
 
 func init() {
 	tracer = otel.Tracer("github.com/cs3org/reva/pkg/storage/utils/decomposedfs/upload")
 }
 
-var defaultFilePerm = os.FileMode(0664)
-
 // WriteChunk writes the stream from the reader to the given offset of the upload
 func (session *OcisSession) WriteChunk(ctx context.Context, offset int64, src io.Reader) (int64, error) {
 	ctx, span := tracer.Start(session.Context(ctx), "WriteChunk")
@@ -165,7 +168,15 @@ func (session *OcisSession) FinishUpload(ctx context.Context) error {
 	n, err := session.store.CreateNodeForUpload(session, attrs)
 	if err != nil {
 		session.store.Cleanup(ctx, session, true, false, false)
-		return err
+		//  we need to return a tusd error here to make the tusd handler return the correct status code
+		switch err.(type) {
+		case errtypes.AlreadyExists:
+			return ErrAlreadyExists
+		case errtypes.Aborted:
+			return tusd.NewError("ERR_PRECONDITION_FAILED", err.Error(), http.StatusPreconditionFailed)
+		default:
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 
 	// increase the processing counter for every started processing
@@ -302,34 +313,35 @@ func (session *OcisSession) Cleanup(revertNodeMetadata, cleanBin, cleanInfo bool
 		n, err := session.Node(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Error().Err(err).Str("sessionid", session.ID()).Msg("reading node for session failed")
-		}
-		if session.NodeExists() && session.info.MetaData["versionsPath"] != "" {
-			p := session.info.MetaData["versionsPath"]
-			if err := session.store.lu.CopyMetadata(ctx, p, n.InternalPath(), func(attributeName string, value []byte) (newValue []byte, copy bool) {
-				return value, strings.HasPrefix(attributeName, prefixes.ChecksumPrefix) ||
-					attributeName == prefixes.TypeAttr ||
-					attributeName == prefixes.BlobIDAttr ||
-					attributeName == prefixes.BlobsizeAttr ||
-					attributeName == prefixes.MTimeAttr
-			}, true); err != nil {
-				appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Info().Str("versionpath", p).Str("nodepath", n.InternalPath()).Err(err).Msg("renaming version node failed")
-			}
-
-			if err := os.RemoveAll(p); err != nil {
-				appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Info().Str("versionpath", p).Str("nodepath", n.InternalPath()).Err(err).Msg("error removing version")
-			}
-
 		} else {
-			// if no other upload session is in progress (processing id != session id) or has finished (processing id == "")
-			latestSession, err := n.ProcessingID(ctx)
-			if err != nil {
-				appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Error().Err(err).Str("spaceid", n.SpaceID).Str("nodeid", n.ID).Str("uploadid", session.ID()).Msg("reading processingid for session failed")
-			}
-			if latestSession == session.ID() {
-				// actually delete the node
-				session.removeNode(ctx)
+			if session.NodeExists() && session.info.MetaData["versionsPath"] != "" {
+				p := session.info.MetaData["versionsPath"]
+				if err := session.store.lu.CopyMetadata(ctx, p, n.InternalPath(), func(attributeName string, value []byte) (newValue []byte, copy bool) {
+					return value, strings.HasPrefix(attributeName, prefixes.ChecksumPrefix) ||
+						attributeName == prefixes.TypeAttr ||
+						attributeName == prefixes.BlobIDAttr ||
+						attributeName == prefixes.BlobsizeAttr ||
+						attributeName == prefixes.MTimeAttr
+				}, true); err != nil {
+					appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Info().Str("versionpath", p).Str("nodepath", n.InternalPath()).Err(err).Msg("renaming version node failed")
+				}
+
+				if err := os.RemoveAll(p); err != nil {
+					appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Info().Str("versionpath", p).Str("nodepath", n.InternalPath()).Err(err).Msg("error removing version")
+				}
+
+			} else {
+				// if no other upload session is in progress (processing id != session id) or has finished (processing id == "")
+				latestSession, err := n.ProcessingID(ctx)
+				if err != nil {
+					appctx.GetLogger(ctx).Error().Err(err).Str("spaceid", n.SpaceID).Str("nodeid", n.ID).Str("uploadid", session.ID()).Msg("reading processingid for session failed")
+				}
+				if latestSession == session.ID() {
+					// actually delete the node
+					session.removeNode(ctx)
+				}
+				// FIXME else if the upload has become a revision, delete the revision, or if it is the last one, delete the node
 			}
-			// FIXME else if the upload has become a revision, delete the revision, or if it is the last one, delete the node
 		}
 	}