diff --git a/fs/9p/acl.c b/fs/9p/acl.c
index c9da264..02a2cf6 100644
--- a/fs/9p/acl.c
+++ b/fs/9p/acl.c
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@
 	case ACL_TYPE_DEFAULT:
 		name = POSIX_ACL_XATTR_DEFAULT;
 		if (!S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode)) {
-			retval = -EINVAL;
+			retval = acl ? -EINVAL : 0;
 			goto err_out;
 		}
 		break;