diff --git a/fs/ext3/namei.c b/fs/ext3/namei.c
index bd87a607753695b25729e7e35ed49cf018c3c3c9..6ddaa0a42b24a1c7d3576ce1a5287d869f0c2f46 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/namei.c
@@ -1047,8 +1047,16 @@ static struct dentry *ext3_lookup(struct inode * dir, struct dentry *dentry, str
 			return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
 		}
 		inode = ext3_iget(dir->i_sb, ino);
-		if (IS_ERR(inode))
-			return ERR_CAST(inode);
+		if (unlikely(IS_ERR(inode))) {
+			if (PTR_ERR(inode) == -ESTALE) {
+				ext3_error(dir->i_sb, __func__,
+						"deleted inode referenced: %lu",
+						ino);
+				return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
+			} else {
+				return ERR_CAST(inode);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	return d_splice_alias(inode, dentry);
 }