diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
index 26c28ec..db76b86 100644
--- a/fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/namei.c
@@ -2489,6 +2489,10 @@ static int atomic_open(struct nameidata *nd, struct dentry *dentry,
 			dput(dentry);
 			dentry = file->f_path.dentry;
 		}
+		if (create_error && dentry->d_inode == NULL) {
+			error = create_error;
+			goto out;
+		}
 		goto looked_up;
 	}