diff --git a/fs/ext2/xattr.c b/fs/ext2/xattr.c
index 06209ec4..2d7557d 100644
--- a/fs/ext2/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext2/xattr.c
@@ -665,7 +665,7 @@
 			if (unlikely(!new_bh)) {
 				ext2_free_blocks(inode, block, 1);
 				mark_inode_dirty(inode);
-				error = -EIO;
+				error = -ENOMEM;
 				goto cleanup;
 			}
 			lock_buffer(new_bh);