diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
index 3fdcf251ec1f..d31dbccbe7bd 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
@@ -1377,8 +1377,10 @@ static void gc_worker(struct work_struct *work)
 		rcu_read_lock();
 
 		nf_conntrack_get_ht(&ct_hash, &hashsz);
-		if (i >= hashsz)
+		if (i >= hashsz) {
+			rcu_read_unlock();
 			break;
+		}
 
 		hlist_nulls_for_each_entry_rcu(h, n, &ct_hash[i], hnnode) {
 			struct nf_conntrack_net *cnet;