diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/inode.c b/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
index d41f0c8e0e2a..65e5e6eb761a 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
@@ -453,7 +453,15 @@ struct posix_acl *ovl_get_acl(struct inode *inode, int type, bool rcu)
 	const struct cred *old_cred;
 	struct posix_acl *acl;
 
-	if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_FS_POSIX_ACL) || !IS_POSIXACL(realinode))
+	if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_FS_POSIX_ACL))
+		return NULL;
+
+	if (!realinode) {
+		WARN_ON(!rcu);
+		return ERR_PTR(-ECHILD);
+	}
+
+	if (!IS_POSIXACL(realinode))
 		return NULL;
 
 	if (rcu)