diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index 0568898393f2..ef11fa7b869e 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -392,6 +392,10 @@ static int ovl_create_over_whiteout(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode,
 	if (IS_ERR(upper))
 		goto out_dput;
 
+	err = -ESTALE;
+	if (d_is_negative(upper) || !IS_WHITEOUT(d_inode(upper)))
+		goto out_dput2;
+
 	err = ovl_create_real(wdir, newdentry, cattr, hardlink, true);
 	if (err)
 		goto out_dput2;