diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c b/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c
index e164f489d01d981b877f178684bc1f9767af6f63..30abafcd4eccec2c56b6cc7888f352062ca4d160 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ static int ovl_copy_up_one(struct dentry *parent, struct dentry *dentry,
 int ovl_copy_up_flags(struct dentry *dentry, int flags)
 {
 	int err = 0;
-	const struct cred *old_cred = ovl_override_creds(dentry->d_sb);
+	const struct cred *old_cred;
 	bool disconnected = (dentry->d_flags & DCACHE_DISCONNECTED);
 
 	/*
@@ -835,6 +835,7 @@ int ovl_copy_up_flags(struct dentry *dentry, int flags)
 	if (WARN_ON(disconnected && d_is_dir(dentry)))
 		return -EIO;
 
+	old_cred = ovl_override_creds(dentry->d_sb);
 	while (!err) {
 		struct dentry *next;
 		struct dentry *parent = NULL;