diff --git a/fs/debugfs/inode.c b/fs/debugfs/inode.c
index e49ba072bd64..22fe11baef2b 100644
--- a/fs/debugfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/debugfs/inode.c
@@ -671,6 +671,13 @@ struct dentry *debugfs_rename(struct dentry *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
 	struct dentry *dentry = NULL, *trap;
 	struct name_snapshot old_name;
 
+	if (IS_ERR(old_dir))
+		return old_dir;
+	if (IS_ERR(new_dir))
+		return new_dir;
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(old_dentry))
+		return old_dentry;
+
 	trap = lock_rename(new_dir, old_dir);
 	/* Source or destination directories don't exist? */
 	if (d_really_is_negative(old_dir) || d_really_is_negative(new_dir))