diff --git a/fs/ntfs3/super.c b/fs/ntfs3/super.c
index 4ff0d2c9507c6c..a18fb431abbe1e 100644
--- a/fs/ntfs3/super.c
+++ b/fs/ntfs3/super.c
@@ -1255,9 +1255,9 @@ static int ntfs_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, struct fs_context *fc)
 	ref.low = cpu_to_le32(MFT_REC_ROOT);
 	ref.seq = cpu_to_le16(MFT_REC_ROOT);
 	inode = ntfs_iget5(sb, &ref, &NAME_ROOT);
-	if (IS_ERR(inode)) {
+	if (IS_ERR(inode) || !inode->i_op) {
 		ntfs_err(sb, "Failed to load root.");
-		err = PTR_ERR(inode);
+		err = IS_ERR(inode) ? PTR_ERR(inode) : -EINVAL;
 		goto out;
 	}