diff --git a/fs/sysfs/inode.c b/fs/sysfs/inode.c
index d727dc960634..970a33f03299 100644
--- a/fs/sysfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/sysfs/inode.c
@@ -228,6 +228,10 @@ void sysfs_hash_and_remove(struct dentry * dir, const char * name)
 	struct sysfs_dirent * sd;
 	struct sysfs_dirent * parent_sd = dir->d_fsdata;
 
+	if (dir->d_inode == NULL)
+		/* no inode means this hasn't been made visible yet */
+		return;
+
 	down(&dir->d_inode->i_sem);
 	list_for_each_entry(sd, &parent_sd->s_children, s_sibling) {
 		if (!sd->s_element)