diff --git a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
index 70e05af5ebea..e39a6f56fc47 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
@@ -932,7 +932,7 @@ static void kvm_destroy_vm_debugfs(struct kvm *kvm)
 	int kvm_debugfs_num_entries = kvm_vm_stats_header.num_desc +
 				      kvm_vcpu_stats_header.num_desc;
 
-	if (!kvm->debugfs_dentry)
+	if (IS_ERR(kvm->debugfs_dentry))
 		return;
 
 	debugfs_remove_recursive(kvm->debugfs_dentry);
@@ -955,6 +955,12 @@ static int kvm_create_vm_debugfs(struct kvm *kvm, int fd)
 	int kvm_debugfs_num_entries = kvm_vm_stats_header.num_desc +
 				      kvm_vcpu_stats_header.num_desc;
 
+	/*
+	 * Force subsequent debugfs file creations to fail if the VM directory
+	 * is not created.
+	 */
+	kvm->debugfs_dentry = ERR_PTR(-ENOENT);
+
 	if (!debugfs_initialized())
 		return 0;
 
@@ -5479,7 +5485,7 @@ static void kvm_uevent_notify_change(unsigned int type, struct kvm *kvm)
 	}
 	add_uevent_var(env, "PID=%d", kvm->userspace_pid);
 
-	if (kvm->debugfs_dentry) {
+	if (!IS_ERR(kvm->debugfs_dentry)) {
 		char *tmp, *p = kmalloc(PATH_MAX, GFP_KERNEL_ACCOUNT);
 
 		if (p) {