diff --git a/fs/reiserfs/super.c b/fs/reiserfs/super.c
index 2969773cfc22abb000e2eceb90f0011ef0fd2f34..b194451fc04bcb7768e7ad372d40d9ecece8ccfe 100644
--- a/fs/reiserfs/super.c
+++ b/fs/reiserfs/super.c
@@ -530,8 +530,8 @@ static void init_once(void *foo)
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&ei->i_prealloc_list);
 	inode_init_once(&ei->vfs_inode);
 #ifdef CONFIG_REISERFS_FS_POSIX_ACL
-	ei->i_acl_access = NULL;
-	ei->i_acl_default = NULL;
+	ei->i_acl_access = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
+	ei->i_acl_default = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 #endif
 }
 
@@ -586,14 +586,14 @@ static void reiserfs_clear_inode(struct inode *inode)
 	struct posix_acl *acl;
 
 	acl = REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_access;
-	if (acl && !IS_ERR(acl))
+	if (acl && acl != ACL_NOT_CACHED)
 		posix_acl_release(acl);
-	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_access = NULL;
+	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_access = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 
 	acl = REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_default;
-	if (acl && !IS_ERR(acl))
+	if (acl && acl != ACL_NOT_CACHED)
 		posix_acl_release(acl);
-	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_default = NULL;
+	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_default = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 }
 #else
 #define reiserfs_clear_inode NULL
diff --git a/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c b/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c
index a1a7e3530e17dc1f891985e1bd3cb9a8a32e34fc..7b3aeb9327d30b8c904b93a762b812e2860b940f 100644
--- a/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c
+++ b/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c
@@ -192,19 +192,19 @@ static inline void iset_acl(struct inode *inode, struct posix_acl **i_acl,
 			    struct posix_acl *acl)
 {
 	spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
-	if (*i_acl != ERR_PTR(-ENODATA))
+	if (*i_acl != ACL_NOT_CACHED)
 		posix_acl_release(*i_acl);
-	*i_acl = acl ? posix_acl_dup(acl) : ERR_PTR(-ENODATA);
+	*i_acl = posix_acl_dup(acl);
 	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
 }
 
 static inline struct posix_acl *iget_acl(struct inode *inode,
 					 struct posix_acl **i_acl)
 {
-	struct posix_acl *acl = ERR_PTR(-ENODATA);
+	struct posix_acl *acl = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 
 	spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
-	if (*i_acl != ERR_PTR(-ENODATA))
+	if (*i_acl != ACL_NOT_CACHED)
 		acl = posix_acl_dup(*i_acl);
 	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
 
@@ -239,15 +239,13 @@ struct posix_acl *reiserfs_get_acl(struct inode *inode, int type)
 	}
 
 	acl = iget_acl(inode, p_acl);
-	if (acl && !IS_ERR(acl))
+	if (acl != ACL_NOT_CACHED)
 		return acl;
-	else if (PTR_ERR(acl) == -ENODATA)
-		return NULL;
 
 	size = reiserfs_xattr_get(inode, name, NULL, 0);
 	if (size < 0) {
 		if (size == -ENODATA || size == -ENOSYS) {
-			*p_acl = ERR_PTR(-ENODATA);
+			*p_acl = NULL;
 			return NULL;
 		}
 		return ERR_PTR(size);
@@ -262,7 +260,7 @@ struct posix_acl *reiserfs_get_acl(struct inode *inode, int type)
 		/* This shouldn't actually happen as it should have
 		   been caught above.. but just in case */
 		acl = NULL;
-		*p_acl = ERR_PTR(-ENODATA);
+		*p_acl = acl;
 	} else if (retval < 0) {
 		acl = ERR_PTR(retval);
 	} else {
@@ -379,11 +377,8 @@ reiserfs_inherit_default_acl(struct reiserfs_transaction_handle *th,
 	}
 
 	acl = reiserfs_get_acl(dir, ACL_TYPE_DEFAULT);
-	if (IS_ERR(acl)) {
-		if (PTR_ERR(acl) == -ENODATA)
-			goto apply_umask;
+	if (IS_ERR(acl))
 		return PTR_ERR(acl);
-	}
 
 	if (acl) {
 		struct posix_acl *acl_copy;
diff --git a/include/linux/reiserfs_acl.h b/include/linux/reiserfs_acl.h
index 8cc65757e47adfc476ed4b2ca2c1d020c06ab6bf..8f4d8d718b10b174fafb35343bd5ee7b8a975b6b 100644
--- a/include/linux/reiserfs_acl.h
+++ b/include/linux/reiserfs_acl.h
@@ -58,12 +58,12 @@ extern struct xattr_handler reiserfs_posix_acl_access_handler;
 
 static inline void reiserfs_init_acl_access(struct inode *inode)
 {
-	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_access = NULL;
+	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_access = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 }
 
 static inline void reiserfs_init_acl_default(struct inode *inode)
 {
-	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_default = NULL;
+	REISERFS_I(inode)->i_acl_default = ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 }
 #else