diff --git a/fs/ceph/addr.c b/fs/ceph/addr.c
index 0df4623785dd..17f9368a8ca1 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/addr.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/addr.c
@@ -473,8 +473,11 @@ static int ceph_init_request(struct netfs_io_request *rreq, struct file *file)
 	rreq->netfs_priv = priv;
 
 out:
-	if (ret < 0)
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		if (got)
+			ceph_put_cap_refs(ceph_inode(inode), got);
 		kfree(priv);
+	}
 
 	return ret;
 }