diff --git a/fs/notify/fanotify/fanotify.c b/fs/notify/fanotify/fanotify.c
index c620b4f6fe12..397ee623ff1e 100644
--- a/fs/notify/fanotify/fanotify.c
+++ b/fs/notify/fanotify/fanotify.c
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ static struct inode *fanotify_dfid_inode(u32 event_mask, const void *data,
 	if (event_mask & ALL_FSNOTIFY_DIRENT_EVENTS)
 		return dir;
 
-	if (S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode))
+	if (inode && S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode))
 		return inode;
 
 	return dir;