diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/alloc.c b/fs/ocfs2/alloc.c
index 395e23920632..841135341898 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/alloc.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/alloc.c
@@ -770,6 +770,10 @@ int ocfs2_search_extent_list(struct ocfs2_extent_list *el, u32 v_cluster)
 	struct ocfs2_extent_rec *rec;
 	u32 rec_end, rec_start, clusters;
 
+	/* Do not search over an invalid extent list. */
+	if (le16_to_cpu(el->l_next_free_rec) >= le16_to_cpu(el->l_count))
+		return ret;
+
 	for(i = 0; i < le16_to_cpu(el->l_next_free_rec); i++) {
 		rec = &el->l_recs[i];