diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
index c87c14ee1a25..dadba8017c04 100644
--- a/fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/namei.c
@@ -4750,8 +4750,7 @@ static struct dentry *lookup_fast_for_open(struct nameidata *nd, int open_flag)
 		return dentry;
 
 	if (open_flag & O_CREAT) {
-		/* Discard negative dentries. Need inode_lock to do the create */
-		if (!dentry->d_inode) {
+		if (d_is_negative(dentry)) {
 			if (!(nd->flags & LOOKUP_RCU))
 				dput(dentry);
 			dentry = NULL;