diff --git a/fs/exportfs/expfs.c b/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
index 80246bad1b7f..890e01828817 100644
--- a/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
+++ b/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
@@ -367,6 +367,8 @@ struct dentry *exportfs_decode_fh(struct vfsmount *mnt, struct fid *fid,
 	 * Try to get any dentry for the given file handle from the filesystem.
 	 */
 	result = nop->fh_to_dentry(mnt->mnt_sb, fid, fh_len, fileid_type);
+	if (!result)
+		result = ERR_PTR(-ESTALE);
 	if (IS_ERR(result))
 		return result;
 
@@ -420,6 +422,8 @@ struct dentry *exportfs_decode_fh(struct vfsmount *mnt, struct fid *fid,
 
 		target_dir = nop->fh_to_parent(mnt->mnt_sb, fid,
 				fh_len, fileid_type);
+		if (!target_dir)
+			goto err_result;
 		err = PTR_ERR(target_dir);
 		if (IS_ERR(target_dir))
 			goto err_result;