diff --git a/fs/ecryptfs/inode.c b/fs/ecryptfs/inode.c
index 89209f00f9c74ecc752ed944f26ecff6e2f5c974..5e78fc179886e6364f4a0d3a7019ee2d5274d9fb 100644
--- a/fs/ecryptfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ecryptfs/inode.c
@@ -673,10 +673,11 @@ static void *ecryptfs_follow_link(struct dentry *dentry, struct nameidata *nd)
 	ecryptfs_printk(KERN_DEBUG, "Calling readlink w/ "
 			"dentry->d_name.name = [%s]\n", dentry->d_name.name);
 	rc = dentry->d_inode->i_op->readlink(dentry, (char __user *)buf, len);
-	buf[rc] = '\0';
 	set_fs(old_fs);
 	if (rc < 0)
 		goto out_free;
+	else
+		buf[rc] = '\0';
 	rc = 0;
 	nd_set_link(nd, buf);
 	goto out;