diff --git a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
index 8fb6844f9734..cdafc05d79c9 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ static int find_group_orlov(struct super_block *sb, struct inode *parent,
 	struct ext4_sb_info *sbi = EXT4_SB(sb);
 	ext4_group_t real_ngroups = ext4_get_groups_count(sb);
 	int inodes_per_group = EXT4_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb);
-	unsigned int freei, avefreei;
+	unsigned int freei, avefreei, grp_free;
 	ext4_fsblk_t freeb, avefreec;
 	unsigned int ndirs;
 	int max_dirs, min_inodes;
@@ -477,8 +477,8 @@ fallback_retry:
 	for (i = 0; i < ngroups; i++) {
 		grp = (parent_group + i) % ngroups;
 		desc = ext4_get_group_desc(sb, grp, NULL);
-		if (desc && ext4_free_inodes_count(sb, desc) &&
-		    ext4_free_inodes_count(sb, desc) >= avefreei) {
+		grp_free = ext4_free_inodes_count(sb, desc);
+		if (desc && grp_free && grp_free >= avefreei) {
 			*group = grp;
 			return 0;
 		}