diff --git a/fs/nfs/nfs4xdr.c b/fs/nfs/nfs4xdr.c
index 549c916d2859..525684b0056f 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/nfs4xdr.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/nfs4xdr.c
@@ -1132,7 +1132,7 @@ static void encode_attrs(struct xdr_stream *xdr, const struct iattr *iap,
 		} else
 			*p++ = cpu_to_be32(NFS4_SET_TO_SERVER_TIME);
 	}
-	if (bmval[2] & FATTR4_WORD2_SECURITY_LABEL) {
+	if (label && (bmval[2] & FATTR4_WORD2_SECURITY_LABEL)) {
 		*p++ = cpu_to_be32(label->lfs);
 		*p++ = cpu_to_be32(label->pi);
 		*p++ = cpu_to_be32(label->len);