diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfs4proc.c b/fs/nfsd/nfs4proc.c
index b7bc6e1a85ac3d1472b7867ccd75b5819126f2c8..9d6b4f0f1a25f45e493e8b5775821b6f7e2062d3 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfs4proc.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfs4proc.c
@@ -1037,6 +1037,9 @@ nfsd4_verify_copy(struct svc_rqst *rqstp, struct nfsd4_compound_state *cstate,
 {
 	__be32 status;
 
+	if (!cstate->save_fh.fh_dentry)
+		return nfserr_nofilehandle;
+
 	status = nfs4_preprocess_stateid_op(rqstp, cstate, &cstate->save_fh,
 					    src_stateid, RD_STATE, src, NULL);
 	if (status) {