diff --git a/fs/hostfs/hostfs_kern.c b/fs/hostfs/hostfs_kern.c
index ea87f24c6c3f..a73d27c4dd58 100644
--- a/fs/hostfs/hostfs_kern.c
+++ b/fs/hostfs/hostfs_kern.c
@@ -637,12 +637,8 @@ static struct dentry *hostfs_lookup(struct inode *ino, struct dentry *dentry,
 
 	inode = hostfs_iget(ino->i_sb, name);
 	__putname(name);
-	if (IS_ERR(inode)) {
-		if (PTR_ERR(inode) == -ENOENT)
-			inode = NULL;
-		else
-			return ERR_CAST(inode);
-	}
+	if (inode == ERR_PTR(-ENOENT))
+		inode = NULL;
 
 	return d_splice_alias(inode, dentry);
 }