diff --git a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
index a87455d..0840bf3 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
@@ -874,6 +874,13 @@
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	BUFFER_TRACE(group_desc_bh, "get_write_access");
+	err = ext4_journal_get_write_access(handle, group_desc_bh);
+	if (err) {
+		ext4_std_error(sb, err);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	/* We may have to initialize the block bitmap if it isn't already */
 	if (ext4_has_group_desc_csum(sb) &&
 	    gdp->bg_flags & cpu_to_le16(EXT4_BG_BLOCK_UNINIT)) {
@@ -910,13 +917,6 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	BUFFER_TRACE(group_desc_bh, "get_write_access");
-	err = ext4_journal_get_write_access(handle, group_desc_bh);
-	if (err) {
-		ext4_std_error(sb, err);
-		goto out;
-	}
-
 	/* Update the relevant bg descriptor fields */
 	if (ext4_has_group_desc_csum(sb)) {
 		int free;