diff --git a/fs/autofs4/expire.c b/fs/autofs4/expire.c
index b8ce02607d66..4456d1daa40f 100644
--- a/fs/autofs4/expire.c
+++ b/fs/autofs4/expire.c
@@ -174,6 +174,12 @@ static int autofs4_tree_busy(struct vfsmount *mnt,
 			struct autofs_info *ino = autofs4_dentry_ino(p);
 			unsigned int ino_count = atomic_read(&ino->count);
 
+			/*
+			 * Clean stale dentries below that have not been
+			 * invalidated after a mount fail during lookup
+			 */
+			d_invalidate(p);
+
 			/* allow for dget above and top is already dgot */
 			if (p == top)
 				ino_count += 2;