diff --git a/fs/exfat/io.c b/fs/exfat/io.c
index 81e82829c72..12498a4a6ec 100644
--- a/fs/exfat/io.c
+++ b/fs/exfat/io.c
@@ -898,9 +898,7 @@ int exfat_fs_read(const char *filename, void *buf, loff_t offset, loff_t len,
 
 	*actread = sz;
 
-	exfat_put_node(&ctxt.ef, node);
-
-	return exfat_flush_node(&ctxt.ef, node);
+	err = exfat_flush_node(&ctxt.ef, node);
 exit:
 	exfat_put_node(&ctxt.ef, node);
 	return err;