diff --git a/fs/fuse/dir.c b/fs/fuse/dir.c
index ea116997dee2..0fd334a50c53 100644
--- a/fs/fuse/dir.c
+++ b/fs/fuse/dir.c
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ static bool backing_data_changed(struct fuse_inode *fi, struct dentry *entry,
 	int err;
 	bool ret = true;
 
-	if (!entry) {
+	if (!entry || !fi->backing_inode) {
 		ret = false;
 		goto put_backing_file;
 	}