diff --git a/fs/configfs/dir.c b/fs/configfs/dir.c
index 712b10f64c70..e9dcfa3c208c 100644
--- a/fs/configfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/configfs/dir.c
@@ -1037,10 +1037,11 @@ static int configfs_dump(struct configfs_dirent *sd, int level)
 static int configfs_depend_prep(struct dentry *origin,
 				struct config_item *target)
 {
-	struct configfs_dirent *child_sd, *sd = origin->d_fsdata;
+	struct configfs_dirent *child_sd, *sd;
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	BUG_ON(!origin || !sd);
+	BUG_ON(!origin || !origin->d_fsdata);
+	sd = origin->d_fsdata;
 
 	if (sd->s_element == target)  /* Boo-yah */
 		goto out;