diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 8065296a11..398ffec29d 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2314,7 +2314,7 @@ int git_config_rename_section_in_file(const char *config_filename,
 
 	if (new_name && !section_name_is_ok(new_name)) {
 		ret = error("invalid section name: %s", new_name);
-		goto out;
+		goto out_no_rollback;
 	}
 
 	if (!config_filename)
@@ -2396,6 +2396,8 @@ commit_and_out:
 		ret = error_errno("could not write config file %s",
 				  config_filename);
 out:
+	rollback_lock_file(lock);
+out_no_rollback:
 	free(filename_buf);
 	return ret;
 }