diff --git a/fs/cifs/dir.c b/fs/cifs/dir.c
index 14d602f178c2..499f27fc8576 100644
--- a/fs/cifs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/cifs/dir.c
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ cifs_lookup(struct inode *parent_dir_inode, struct dentry *direntry,
 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) {