diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c b/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c
index ed774bded974..94ae1fb83cf1 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/xattr.c
@@ -764,12 +764,10 @@ static int ocfs2_xattr_extend_allocation(struct inode *inode,
 					 prev_clusters;
 
 		if (why != RESTART_NONE && clusters_to_add) {
-			/*
-			 * We can only fail in case the alloc file doesn't give
-			 * up enough clusters.
-			 */
-			BUG_ON(why == RESTART_META);
-
+			if (why == RESTART_META) {
+				status = -ENOSPC;
+				break;
+			}
 			credits = ocfs2_calc_extend_credits(inode->i_sb,
 							    &vb->vb_xv->xr_list);
 			status = ocfs2_extend_trans(handle, credits);
@@ -3443,6 +3441,14 @@ static int ocfs2_calc_xattr_set_need(struct inode *inode,
 		} else
 			credits += OCFS2_SUBALLOC_ALLOC + 1;
 
+		/*
+		 * Reserve metadata for the new xattr's value extent tree.
+		 * The not_found path above adds credits for this tree but
+		 * omits meta_add, leaving meta_ac NULL for large values.
+		 */
+		if (xi->xi_value_len > OCFS2_XATTR_INLINE_SIZE)
+			meta_add += ocfs2_extend_meta_needed(&def_xv.xv.xr_list);
+
 		/*
 		 * This cluster will be used either for new bucket or for
 		 * new xattr block.