diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
index e175e94116ac..55e611c1513c 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -517,8 +517,8 @@ static void ext4_xattr_update_super_block(handle_t *handle,
 }
 
 /*
- * Release the xattr block BH: If the reference count is > 1, decrement
- * it; otherwise free the block.
+ * Release the xattr block BH: If the reference count is > 1, decrement it;
+ * otherwise free the block.
  */
 static void
 ext4_xattr_release_block(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
@@ -538,16 +538,31 @@ ext4_xattr_release_block(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 		if (ce)
 			mb_cache_entry_free(ce);
 		get_bh(bh);
+		unlock_buffer(bh);
 		ext4_free_blocks(handle, inode, bh, 0, 1,
 				 EXT4_FREE_BLOCKS_METADATA |
 				 EXT4_FREE_BLOCKS_FORGET);
-		unlock_buffer(bh);
 	} else {
 		le32_add_cpu(&BHDR(bh)->h_refcount, -1);
 		if (ce)
 			mb_cache_entry_release(ce);
+		/*
+		 * Beware of this ugliness: Releasing of xattr block references
+		 * from different inodes can race and so we have to protect
+		 * from a race where someone else frees the block (and releases
+		 * its journal_head) before we are done dirtying the buffer. In
+		 * nojournal mode this race is harmless and we actually cannot
+		 * call ext4_handle_dirty_xattr_block() with locked buffer as
+		 * that function can call sync_dirty_buffer() so for that case
+		 * we handle the dirtying after unlocking the buffer.
+		 */
+		if (ext4_handle_valid(handle))
+			error = ext4_handle_dirty_xattr_block(handle, inode,
+							      bh);
 		unlock_buffer(bh);
-		error = ext4_handle_dirty_xattr_block(handle, inode, bh);
+		if (!ext4_handle_valid(handle))
+			error = ext4_handle_dirty_xattr_block(handle, inode,
+							      bh);
 		if (IS_SYNC(inode))
 			ext4_handle_sync(handle);
 		dquot_free_block(inode, EXT4_C2B(EXT4_SB(inode->i_sb), 1));