diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/namei.c b/fs/overlayfs/namei.c
index f731eb4d35f9..509dac77af61 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/namei.c
@@ -1006,6 +1006,8 @@ struct dentry *ovl_lookup(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
 	 * Just make sure a corresponding data dentry has been found.
 	 */
 	if (d.metacopy || (uppermetacopy && !ctr)) {
+		pr_warn_ratelimited("metacopy with no lower data found - abort lookup (%pd2)\n",
+				    dentry);
 		err = -EIO;
 		goto out_put;
 	} else if (!d.is_dir && upperdentry && !ctr && origin_path) {