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..493a75eff2c9 100644
--- a/fs/minix/namei.c
+++ b/fs/minix/namei.c
@@ -208,6 +218,13 @@ static int minix_rename(struct mnt_idmap *idmap,
                if (dir_de && !minix_empty_dir(new_inode))
                        goto out_dir;
 
+               err = -EFSCORRUPTED;
+               if (new_inode->i_nlink == 0 || (dir_de && new_inode->i_nlink != 2)) {
+                       printk(KERN_CRIT "minix-fs error: inode (ino: %ld) "
+                              "has corrupted nlink", new_inode->i_ino);
+                       goto out_dir;
+               }
+
                err = -ENOENT;
                new_de = minix_find_entry(new_dentry, &new_folio);
                if (!new_de)