diff --git a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
index 8012a5daf401..ac644c31ca67 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
@@ -887,6 +887,10 @@ got:
 		struct buffer_head *block_bitmap_bh;
 
 		block_bitmap_bh = ext4_read_block_bitmap(sb, group);
+		if (!block_bitmap_bh) {
+			err = -EIO;
+			goto out;
+		}
 		BUFFER_TRACE(block_bitmap_bh, "get block bitmap access");
 		err = ext4_journal_get_write_access(handle, block_bitmap_bh);
 		if (err) {