diff --git a/fs/ext4/inode.c b/fs/ext4/inode.c
index b4effbda7a96..ca76b5ed6c9e 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/inode.c
@@ -732,11 +732,13 @@ struct buffer_head *ext4_getblk(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 	err = ext4_map_blocks(handle, inode, &map,
 			      create ? EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CREATE : 0);
 
+	/* ensure we send some value back into *errp */
+	*errp = 0;
+
 	if (err < 0)
 		*errp = err;
 	if (err <= 0)
 		return NULL;
-	*errp = 0;
 
 	bh = sb_getblk(inode->i_sb, map.m_pblk);
 	if (!bh) {
diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index 7450ff01c3c4..37c03b32e194 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -846,7 +846,7 @@ static int htree_dirblock_to_tree(struct file *dir_file,
 {
 	struct buffer_head *bh;
 	struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *de, *top;
-	int err, count = 0;
+	int err = 0, count = 0;
 
 	dxtrace(printk(KERN_INFO "In htree dirblock_to_tree: block %lu\n",
 							(unsigned long)block));