diff --git a/fs/nfs/dir.c b/fs/nfs/dir.c
index 03c8e83f5913..c4a0a93b24e4 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/dir.c
@@ -2673,6 +2673,12 @@ int nfs_symlink(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct inode *dir,
 		return error;
 	}
 
+	if (unlikely(!d_is_symlink(dentry))) {
+		d_drop(dentry);
+		folio_put(folio);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	nfs_set_verifier(dentry, nfs_save_change_attribute(dir));
 
 	/*