diff --git a/fs/ext3/acl.c b/fs/ext3/acl.c
index 328592c..638c13a 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/acl.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/acl.c
@@ -286,6 +286,8 @@
 {
 	struct posix_acl *acl = ext3_get_acl(inode, ACL_TYPE_ACCESS);
 
+	if (IS_ERR(acl))
+		return PTR_ERR(acl);
 	if (acl) {
 		int error = posix_acl_permission(inode, acl, mask);
 		posix_acl_release(acl);