diff --git a/fs/tracefs/inode.c b/fs/tracefs/inode.c
index 62524b20964ec..bc86ffdb103bc 100644
--- a/fs/tracefs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/tracefs/inode.c
@@ -215,6 +215,10 @@ static void set_gid(struct dentry *parent, kgid_t gid)
 		struct dentry *dentry = list_entry(tmp, struct dentry, d_child);
 		next = tmp->next;
 
+		/* Note, getdents() can add a cursor dentry with no inode */
+		if (!dentry->d_inode)
+			continue;
+
 		spin_lock_nested(&dentry->d_lock, DENTRY_D_LOCK_NESTED);
 
 		change_gid(dentry, gid);