diff --git a/fs/jffs2/nodelist.c b/fs/jffs2/nodelist.c
index b86c78d178c60..498308f741a34 100644
--- a/fs/jffs2/nodelist.c
+++ b/fs/jffs2/nodelist.c
@@ -459,7 +459,10 @@ void jffs2_del_ino_cache(struct jffs2_sb_info *c, struct jffs2_inode_cache *old)
 	struct jffs2_inode_cache **prev;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_JFFS2_FS_XATTR
-	BUG_ON(old->xref);
+	if (old->xref) {
+		pr_notice("ino #%u: cleaning up residual xattr refs\n", old->ino);
+		jffs2_xattr_free_inode(c, old);
+	}
 #endif
 	dbg_inocache("del %p (ino #%u)\n", old, old->ino);
 	spin_lock(&c->inocache_lock);