diff --git a/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c b/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c
index 7921c859a3ce..735d8dc3e9f5 100644
--- a/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c
+++ b/fs/smb/common/smbdirect/smbdirect_connection.c
@@ -703,6 +703,14 @@ static void smbdirect_connection_negotiate_rdma_resources(struct smbdirect_socke
 						peer_responder_resources);
 }
 
+__maybe_unused /* this is temporary while this file is included in others */
+static bool smbdirect_connection_is_connected(struct smbdirect_socket *sc)
+{
+	if (unlikely(!sc || sc->first_error || sc->status != SMBDIRECT_SOCKET_CONNECTED))
+		return false;
+	return true;
+}
+
 __maybe_unused /* this is temporary while this file is included in others */
 static int smbdirect_connection_wait_for_connected(struct smbdirect_socket *sc)
 {