diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/ovl_entry.h b/fs/overlayfs/ovl_entry.h
index 28348c44ea5b..8d81e88f1d1e 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/ovl_entry.h
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/ovl_entry.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ struct ovl_sb {
 };
 
 struct ovl_layer {
+	/* ovl_free_fs() relies on @mnt being the first member! */
 	struct vfsmount *mnt;
 	/* Trap in ovl inode cache */
 	struct inode *trap;
@@ -37,6 +38,14 @@ struct ovl_layer {
 	int fsid;
 };
 
+/*
+ * ovl_free_fs() relies on @mnt being the first member when unmounting
+ * the private mounts created for each layer. Let's check both the
+ * offset and type.
+ */
+static_assert(offsetof(struct ovl_layer, mnt) == 0);
+static_assert(__same_type(typeof_member(struct ovl_layer, mnt), struct vfsmount *));
+
 struct ovl_path {
 	struct ovl_layer *layer;
 	struct dentry *dentry;