diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index f4cf2928cf8ed60ed4ff46f2f03b26fe5e0a91da..723b98b9069876d1656b74735dabcaf01484e26d 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -152,6 +152,9 @@ static void ovl_instantiate(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode,
 		inc_nlink(inode);
 	}
 	d_instantiate(dentry, inode);
+	/* Force lookup of new upper hardlink to find its lower */
+	if (hardlink)
+		d_drop(dentry);
 }
 
 static bool ovl_type_merge(struct dentry *dentry)