diff --git a/fs/ceph/inode.c b/fs/ceph/inode.c
index acb70a6a82f0f5cb644234da71d1251d9872f2c1..1e438e0faf77ef976cbdf6cfb44fa3ef3314020f 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/inode.c
@@ -1694,7 +1694,6 @@ int ceph_readdir_prepopulate(struct ceph_mds_request *req,
 			if (IS_ERR(realdn)) {
 				err = PTR_ERR(realdn);
 				d_drop(dn);
-				dn = NULL;
 				goto next_item;
 			}
 			dn = realdn;