diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/export.c b/fs/overlayfs/export.c
index cb8ec1f65c03..73c9775215b3 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/export.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/export.c
@@ -227,9 +227,8 @@ static int ovl_d_to_fh(struct dentry *dentry, char *buf, int buflen)
 	/* Encode an upper or lower file handle */
 	fh = ovl_encode_real_fh(enc_lower ? ovl_dentry_lower(dentry) :
 				ovl_dentry_upper(dentry), !enc_lower);
-	err = PTR_ERR(fh);
 	if (IS_ERR(fh))
-		goto fail;
+		return PTR_ERR(fh);
 
 	err = -EOVERFLOW;
 	if (fh->len > buflen)