diff --git a/block/commit.c b/block/commit.c
index 53148e610b..5deb05925b 100644
--- a/block/commit.c
+++ b/block/commit.c
@@ -374,10 +374,12 @@ fail:
     if (s->top) {
         blk_unref(s->top);
     }
+    job_early_fail(&s->common.job);
+    /* commit_top_bs has to be replaced after deleting the block job,
+     * otherwise this would fail because of lack of permissions. */
     if (commit_top_bs) {
         bdrv_replace_node(commit_top_bs, top, &error_abort);
     }
-    job_early_fail(&s->common.job);
 }