diff --git a/fs/ceph/dir.c b/fs/ceph/dir.c
index aed8fda3302497dcc1b9d6421ce6d881f58ee143..7505b4f1f5971dd37ba25c6b736be1deab22f743 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/dir.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/dir.c
@@ -170,11 +170,11 @@ static int __dcache_readdir(struct file *filp,
 	spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
 	spin_lock(&dcache_lock);
 
+	last = dentry;
+
 	if (err < 0)
 		goto out_unlock;
 
-	last = dentry;
-
 	p = p->prev;
 	filp->f_pos++;