diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/super.c b/fs/overlayfs/super.c
index edd46a0e951d..0e100856c7b8 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/super.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/super.c
@@ -328,11 +328,11 @@ static struct dentry *ovl_d_real(struct dentry *dentry,
 	if (!real)
 		goto bug;
 
+	/* Handle recursion */
+	real = d_real(real, inode, open_flags);
+
 	if (!inode || inode == d_inode(real))
 		return real;
-
-	/* Handle recursion */
-	return d_real(real, inode, open_flags);
 bug:
 	WARN(1, "ovl_d_real(%pd4, %s:%lu): real dentry not found\n", dentry,
 	     inode ? inode->i_sb->s_id : "NULL", inode ? inode->i_ino : 0);