diff --git a/fs/file.c b/fs/file.c
index f633348029a5..740040346a98 100644
--- a/fs/file.c
+++ b/fs/file.c
@@ -596,18 +596,32 @@ void fd_install(unsigned int fd, struct file *file)
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(fd_install);
 
+/**
+ * pick_file - return file associatd with fd
+ * @files: file struct to retrieve file from
+ * @fd: file descriptor to retrieve file for
+ *
+ * If this functions returns an EINVAL error pointer the fd was beyond the
+ * current maximum number of file descriptors for that fdtable.
+ *
+ * Returns: The file associated with @fd, on error returns an error pointer.
+ */
 static struct file *pick_file(struct files_struct *files, unsigned fd)
 {
-	struct file *file = NULL;
+	struct file *file;
 	struct fdtable *fdt;
 
 	spin_lock(&files->file_lock);
 	fdt = files_fdtable(files);
-	if (fd >= fdt->max_fds)
+	if (fd >= fdt->max_fds) {
+		file = ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 		goto out_unlock;
+	}
 	file = fdt->fd[fd];
-	if (!file)
+	if (!file) {
+		file = ERR_PTR(-EBADF);
 		goto out_unlock;
+	}
 	rcu_assign_pointer(fdt->fd[fd], NULL);
 	__put_unused_fd(files, fd);
 
@@ -622,7 +636,7 @@ int close_fd(unsigned fd)
 	struct file *file;
 
 	file = pick_file(files, fd);
-	if (!file)
+	if (IS_ERR(file))
 		return -EBADF;
 
 	return filp_close(file, files);
@@ -663,11 +677,16 @@ static inline void __range_close(struct files_struct *cur_fds, unsigned int fd,
 		struct file *file;
 
 		file = pick_file(cur_fds, fd++);
-		if (!file)
+		if (!IS_ERR(file)) {
+			/* found a valid file to close */
+			filp_close(file, cur_fds);
+			cond_resched();
 			continue;
+		}
 
-		filp_close(file, cur_fds);
-		cond_resched();
+		/* beyond the last fd in that table */
+		if (PTR_ERR(file) == -EINVAL)
+			return;
 	}
 }