diff --git a/fs/ext3/namei.c b/fs/ext3/namei.c
index 4f35b2f315d4c..d269821203fda 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/namei.c
@@ -2272,7 +2272,7 @@ static int ext3_symlink (struct inode * dir,
 			err = PTR_ERR(handle);
 			goto err_drop_inode;
 		}
-		inc_nlink(inode);
+		set_nlink(inode, 1);
 		err = ext3_orphan_del(handle, inode);
 		if (err) {
 			ext3_journal_stop(handle);
diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index 86edc45b52a48..2043f482375d0 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -2315,7 +2315,7 @@ static int ext4_symlink(struct inode *dir,
 			err = PTR_ERR(handle);
 			goto err_drop_inode;
 		}
-		inc_nlink(inode);
+		set_nlink(inode, 1);
 		err = ext4_orphan_del(handle, inode);
 		if (err) {
 			ext4_journal_stop(handle);