diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/inode.c b/fs/ocfs2/inode.c
index fcc89856ab95..1820284a299d 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/inode.c
@@ -1459,6 +1459,14 @@ int ocfs2_validate_inode_block(struct super_block *sb,
 		goto bail;
 	}
 
+	if ((le32_to_cpu(di->i_flags) & OCFS2_VALID_FL) &&
+		!(le32_to_cpu(di->i_flags) & OCFS2_ORPHANED_FL) &&
+		le16_to_cpu(di->i_links_count) == 0) {
+		mlog(ML_ERROR, "Invalid dinode #%llu: VALID but i_links_count=0\n",
+			(unsigned long long)le64_to_cpu(di->i_blkno));
+		rc = -EFSCORRUPTED;
+		goto bail;
+	}
 	/*
 	 * Errors after here are fatal.
 	 */