diff --git a/fs/buffer.c b/fs/buffer.c
index bd0913290..e2f92f9b6 100644
--- a/fs/buffer.c
+++ b/fs/buffer.c
@@ -2929,6 +2929,9 @@ drop_buffers(struct folio *folio, struct buffer_head **buffers_to_free)
 	struct buffer_head *head = folio_buffers(folio);
 	struct buffer_head *bh;
 
+	if (!head)
+		goto failed;
+
 	bh = head;
 	do {
 		if (buffer_busy(bh))