diff --git a/kernel-src/fs/pipefs.c b/kernel-src/fs/pipefs.c
index 72d59c15..e073cc6d 100644
--- a/kernel-src/fs/pipefs.c
+++ b/kernel-src/fs/pipefs.c
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ int pipefs_newpipe(vnode_t **nodep) {
 
 	int e = ringbuffer_init(&node->data, BUFFER_SIZE);
 	if (e) {
-		VOP_RELEASE(vnode);
+		slab_free(nodecache, vnode);
 		return e;
 	}