diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index a427d2031a8d..923476e3aefb 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -3182,18 +3182,17 @@ static int ext4_unlink(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 	if (IS_DIRSYNC(dir))
 		ext4_handle_sync(handle);
 
-	if (inode->i_nlink == 0) {
-		ext4_warning_inode(inode, "Deleting file '%.*s' with no links",
-				   dentry->d_name.len, dentry->d_name.name);
-		set_nlink(inode, 1);
-	}
 	retval = ext4_delete_entry(handle, dir, de, bh);
 	if (retval)
 		goto end_unlink;
 	dir->i_ctime = dir->i_mtime = current_time(dir);
 	ext4_update_dx_flag(dir);
 	ext4_mark_inode_dirty(handle, dir);
-	drop_nlink(inode);
+	if (inode->i_nlink == 0)
+		ext4_warning_inode(inode, "Deleting file '%.*s' with no links",
+				   dentry->d_name.len, dentry->d_name.name);
+	else
+		drop_nlink(inode);
 	if (!inode->i_nlink)
 		ext4_orphan_add(handle, inode);
 	inode->i_ctime = current_time(inode);