diff --git a/fs/minix/minix.h b/fs/minix/minix.h
index d54273c3c9ff..ce62cb61186d 100644
--- a/fs/minix/minix.h
+++ b/fs/minix/minix.h
@@ -168,4 +168,6 @@ static inline int minix_test_bit(int nr, const void *vaddr)
 
 #endif
 
+#define EFSCORRUPTED	EUCLEAN		/* Filesystem is corrupted */
+
 #endif /* FS_MINIX_H */
diff --git a/fs/minix/namei.c b/fs/minix/namei.c
index 8938536d8d3c..a8d5a7e22b7b 100644
--- a/fs/minix/namei.c
+++ b/fs/minix/namei.c
@@ -161,15 +161,25 @@ static int minix_unlink(struct inode * dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 static int minix_rmdir(struct inode * dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 {
 	struct inode * inode = d_inode(dentry);
-	int err = -ENOTEMPTY;
-
-	if (minix_empty_dir(inode)) {
-		err = minix_unlink(dir, dentry);
-		if (!err) {
-			inode_dec_link_count(dir);
-			inode_dec_link_count(inode);
-		}
+	int err = -EFSCORRUPTED;
+
+	if (dir->i_nlink <= 2) {
+		printk(KERN_CRIT "minix-fs error: directory inode has "
+		       "corrupted nlink");
+		goto out;
 	}
+
+	err = -ENOTEMPTY;
+	if (!minix_empty_dir(inode))
+		goto out;
+
+	err = minix_unlink(dir, dentry);
+	if (!err) {
+		inode_dec_link_count(dir);
+		inode_dec_link_count(inode);
+ 	}
+
+out:
 	return err;
 }