diff --git a/include/linux/fs.h b/include/linux/fs.h
index e5f643e97cfd..5b351c1e6f58 100644
--- a/include/linux/fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/fs.h
@@ -1034,7 +1034,8 @@ struct file_handle {
 
 static inline struct file *get_file(struct file *f)
 {
-	atomic_long_inc(&f->f_count);
+	long prior = atomic_long_fetch_inc_relaxed(&f->f_count);
+	WARN_ONCE(!prior, "struct file::f_count incremented from zero; use-after-free condition present!\n");
 	return f;
 }