diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index a067835..4a550aa 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -1706,9 +1706,8 @@
  */
 static void ext4_dec_count(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode)
 {
-	drop_nlink(inode);
-	if (S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode) && inode->i_nlink == 0)
-		inc_nlink(inode);
+	if (!S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode) || inode->i_nlink > 2)
+		drop_nlink(inode);
 }