diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index d7d880f9495b..4cc40de38dff 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -415,8 +415,13 @@ static int ovl_create_or_link(struct dentry *dentry, int mode, dev_t rdev,
 		err = -ENOMEM;
 		override_cred = prepare_creds();
 		if (override_cred) {
-			override_cred->fsuid = old_cred->fsuid;
-			override_cred->fsgid = old_cred->fsgid;
+			const struct cred *our_cred;
+
+			our_cred = old_cred;
+			if (!our_cred)
+				our_cred = current_cred();
+			override_cred->fsuid = our_cred->fsuid;
+			override_cred->fsgid = our_cred->fsgid;
 			put_cred(override_creds(override_cred));
 			put_cred(override_cred);