diff --git a/net/sunrpc/debugfs.c b/net/sunrpc/debugfs.c
index 45a033329cd4..19bb356230ed 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/debugfs.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/debugfs.c
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ rpc_clnt_debugfs_register(struct rpc_clnt *clnt)
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	xprt = rcu_dereference(clnt->cl_xprt);
 	/* no "debugfs" dentry? Don't bother with the symlink. */
-	if (!xprt->debugfs) {
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(xprt->debugfs)) {
 		rcu_read_unlock();
 		return;
 	}