diff --git a/fs/jfs/jfs_dtree.c b/fs/jfs/jfs_dtree.c
index f3d3e8b3f50c..031d8f570f58 100644
--- a/fs/jfs/jfs_dtree.c
+++ b/fs/jfs/jfs_dtree.c
@@ -633,6 +633,11 @@ int dtSearch(struct inode *ip, struct component_name * key, ino_t * data,
 		for (base = 0, lim = p->header.nextindex; lim; lim >>= 1) {
 			index = base + (lim >> 1);
 
+			if (stbl[index] < 0) {
+				rc = -EIO;
+				goto out;
+			}
+
 			if (p->header.flag & BT_LEAF) {
 				/* uppercase leaf name to compare */
 				cmp =