diff --git a/fs/ceph/export.c b/fs/ceph/export.c
index e8f11fa565c5..7df550c13d7f 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/export.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/export.c
@@ -91,6 +91,10 @@ static struct dentry *__fh_to_dentry(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino)
 		ceph_mdsc_put_request(req);
 		if (!inode)
 			return ERR_PTR(-ESTALE);
+		if (inode->i_nlink == 0) {
+			iput(inode);
+			return ERR_PTR(-ESTALE);
+		}
 	}
 
 	return d_obtain_alias(inode);