diff --git a/fs/f2fs/namei.c b/fs/f2fs/namei.c
index a278c7da8177..3d85d8116dae 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/namei.c
@@ -502,6 +502,14 @@ static struct dentry *f2fs_lookup(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	if (inode->i_nlink == 0) {
+		f2fs_warn(F2FS_I_SB(inode), "%s: inode (ino=%lx) has zero i_nlink",
+			  __func__, inode->i_ino);
+		err = -EFSCORRUPTED;
+		set_sbi_flag(F2FS_I_SB(inode), SBI_NEED_FSCK);
+		goto out_iput;
+	}
+
 	if (IS_ENCRYPTED(dir) &&
 	    (S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode) || S_ISLNK(inode->i_mode)) &&
 	    !fscrypt_has_permitted_context(dir, inode)) {