diff --git a/fs/minix/namei.c b/fs/minix/namei.c
index f450b11b9860..64c4636951f2 100644
--- a/fs/minix/namei.c
+++ b/fs/minix/namei.c
@@ -172,6 +172,10 @@ static int minix_rmdir(struct inode * dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 		minix_error_inode(dir, "inode has corrupted nlink");
 		goto out;
 	}
+	if (inode->i_nlink < 2) {
+		minix_error_inode(inode, "inode has corrupted nlink");
+		goto out;
+	}
 
 	err = -ENOTEMPTY;
 	if (!minix_empty_dir(inode))