diff --git a/fs/minix/namei.c b/fs/minix/namei.c
index a8d5a7e22b7b..8648d860ef0c 100644
--- a/fs/minix/namei.c
+++ b/fs/minix/namei.c
@@ -218,6 +218,13 @@ static int minix_rename(struct mnt_idmap *idmap,
                if (dir_de && !minix_empty_dir(new_inode))
                        goto out_dir;
 
+               err = -EFSCORRUPTED;
+               if (dir_de && new_inode->i_nlink != 2) {
+                       printk(KERN_CRIT "minix-fs error: directory inode has "
+                              "corrupted nlink");
+                       goto out_dir;
+               }
+
                err = -ENOENT;
                new_de = minix_find_entry(new_dentry, &new_folio);
                if (!new_de)