diff --git a/fs/ntfs/ea.c b/fs/ntfs/ea.c
index 82ad9b61ec64..b2b0a9a043a9 100644
--- a/fs/ntfs/ea.c
+++ b/fs/ntfs/ea.c
@@ -684,7 +684,8 @@ static int ntfs_new_attr_flags(struct ntfs_inode *ni, __le32 fattr)
 	a->flags = new_aflags;
 	mark_mft_record_dirty(ctx->ntfs_ino);
 err_out:
-	ntfs_attr_put_search_ctx(ctx);
+	if (ctx)
+		ntfs_attr_put_search_ctx(ctx);
 	unmap_mft_record(ni);
 	return err;
 }