diff --git a/fs/buffer.c b/fs/buffer.c
index 75cac9ada026..35fa34977e81 100644
--- a/fs/buffer.c
+++ b/fs/buffer.c
@@ -1478,8 +1478,10 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(__getblk);
 void __breadahead(struct block_device *bdev, sector_t block, int size)
 {
 	struct buffer_head *bh = __getblk(bdev, block, size);
-	ll_rw_block(READA, 1, &bh);
-	brelse(bh);
+	if (likely(bh)) {
+		ll_rw_block(READA, 1, &bh);
+		brelse(bh);
+	}
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__breadahead);
 
@@ -1497,7 +1499,7 @@ __bread(struct block_device *bdev, sector_t block, int size)
 {
 	struct buffer_head *bh = __getblk(bdev, block, size);
 
-	if (!buffer_uptodate(bh))
+	if (likely(bh) && !buffer_uptodate(bh))
 		bh = __bread_slow(bh);
 	return bh;
 }