diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index bc2e0612ec32..4183a4cb4a21 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -85,15 +85,20 @@ static struct buffer_head *ext4_append(handle_t *handle,
 		return bh;
 	inode->i_size += inode->i_sb->s_blocksize;
 	EXT4_I(inode)->i_disksize = inode->i_size;
+	err = ext4_mark_inode_dirty(handle, inode);
+	if (err)
+		goto out;
 	BUFFER_TRACE(bh, "get_write_access");
 	err = ext4_journal_get_write_access(handle, inode->i_sb, bh,
 					    EXT4_JTR_NONE);
-	if (err) {
-		brelse(bh);
-		ext4_std_error(inode->i_sb, err);
-		return ERR_PTR(err);
-	}
+	if (err)
+		goto out;
 	return bh;
+
+out:
+	brelse(bh);
+	ext4_std_error(inode->i_sb, err);
+	return ERR_PTR(err);
 }
 
 static int ext4_dx_csum_verify(struct inode *inode,