diff --git a/fs/f2fs/namei.c b/fs/f2fs/namei.c
index 8f8b9b843bdf..f17cb2489a73 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/namei.c
@@ -569,6 +569,15 @@ static int f2fs_unlink(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 		goto fail;
 	}
 
+	if (unlikely(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);
+		f2fs_put_page(page, 0);
+		goto fail;
+	}
+
 	f2fs_balance_fs(sbi, true);
 
 	f2fs_lock_op(sbi);