diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index ce1857fb5434..c6289147c787 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -462,6 +462,10 @@ static int ovl_create_over_whiteout(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode,
 	if (IS_ERR(upper))
 		goto out_unlock;
 
+	err = -ESTALE;
+	if (d_is_negative(upper) || !IS_WHITEOUT(d_inode(upper)))
+		goto out_dput;
+
 	newdentry = ovl_create_temp(workdir, cattr);
 	err = PTR_ERR(newdentry);
 	if (IS_ERR(newdentry))