diff --git a/fs/exfat/nls.c b/fs/exfat/nls.c
index afdf13c34ff5..1ac011088ce7 100644
--- a/fs/exfat/nls.c
+++ b/fs/exfat/nls.c
@@ -779,8 +779,11 @@ int exfat_create_upcase_table(struct super_block *sb)
 				le32_to_cpu(ep->dentry.upcase.checksum));
 
 			brelse(bh);
-			if (ret && ret != -EIO)
+			if (ret && ret != -EIO) {
+				/* free memory from exfat_load_upcase_table call */
+				exfat_free_upcase_table(sbi);
 				goto load_default;
+			}
 
 			/* load successfully */
 			return ret;