diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index a5ba1a858094..6e1ad68cdc7a 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -1077,8 +1077,16 @@ static struct dentry *ext4_lookup(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry, stru
 			return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
 		}
 		inode = ext4_iget(dir->i_sb, ino);
-		if (IS_ERR(inode))
-			return ERR_CAST(inode);
+		if (unlikely(IS_ERR(inode))) {
+			if (PTR_ERR(inode) == -ESTALE) {
+				ext4_error(dir->i_sb, __func__,
+						"deleted inode referenced: %u",
+						ino);
+				return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
+			} else {
+				return ERR_CAST(inode);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	return d_splice_alias(inode, dentry);
 }