diff --git a/fs/cifs/dir.c b/fs/cifs/dir.c
index 8e9d37d44e9d..c1bd0306d6c6 100644
--- a/fs/cifs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/cifs/dir.c
@@ -636,7 +636,7 @@ lookup_out:
 static int
 cifs_d_revalidate(struct dentry *direntry, struct nameidata *nd)
 {
-	if (nd->flags & LOOKUP_RCU)
+	if (nd && (nd->flags & LOOKUP_RCU))
 		return -ECHILD;
 
 	if (direntry->d_inode) {