diff --git a/fs/debugfs/inode.c b/fs/debugfs/inode.c
index 42b0295465b4..1c74a7cbf5b1 100644
--- a/fs/debugfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/debugfs/inode.c
@@ -315,6 +315,9 @@ static struct dentry *start_creating(const char *name, struct dentry *parent)
 	struct dentry *dentry;
 	int error;
 
+	if (!debugfs_initialized())
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENOENT);
+
 	pr_debug("creating file '%s'\n", name);
 
 	if (IS_ERR(parent))