diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/buffer_head_io.c b/fs/ocfs2/buffer_head_io.c
index e62c7e1de4eb..8f714406528d 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/buffer_head_io.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/buffer_head_io.c
@@ -388,7 +388,8 @@ read_failure:
 		/* Always set the buffer in the cache, even if it was
 		 * a forced read, or read-ahead which hasn't yet
 		 * completed. */
-		ocfs2_set_buffer_uptodate(ci, bh);
+		if (bh)
+			ocfs2_set_buffer_uptodate(ci, bh);
 	}
 	ocfs2_metadata_cache_io_unlock(ci);