diff --git a/src/slurmd/slurmd/req.c b/src/slurmd/slurmd/req.c
index 4e980f1df7223a773ee1a8e6e7d871c0763da09e..a6a43ad6abeb1ed4e5a895ab916abcefc762daef 100644
--- a/src/slurmd/slurmd/req.c
+++ b/src/slurmd/slurmd/req.c
@@ -2333,7 +2333,6 @@ _rpc_batch_job(slurm_msg_t *msg, bool new_msg)
 			 * happened.
 			 */
 			if (retry_cnt > 50) {
-				slurm_mutex_unlock(&prolog_mutex);
 				rc = ESLURMD_PROLOG_FAILED;
 				slurm_mutex_unlock(&prolog_mutex);
 				goto done;