diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
index bf0f66f0e9b9..0df3bd2b947d 100644
--- a/fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/namei.c
@@ -1896,6 +1896,7 @@ static inline int may_lookup(struct mnt_idmap *idmap,
 {
 	int err, mask;
 
+	VFS_BUG_ON(!d_can_lookup(nd->path.dentry));
 	mask = nd->flags & LOOKUP_RCU ? MAY_NOT_BLOCK : 0;
 	err = lookup_inode_permission_may_exec(idmap, nd->inode, mask);
 	if (likely(!err))
@@ -2527,6 +2528,9 @@ static int link_path_walk(const char *name, struct nameidata *nd)
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	VFS_BUG_ON(!d_can_lookup(nd->path.dentry));
+	VFS_BUG_ON(!S_ISDIR(nd->path.dentry->d_inode->i_mode));
+
 	/* At this point we know we have a real path component. */
 	for(;;) {
 		struct mnt_idmap *idmap;