diff --git a/fs/btrfs/export.c b/fs/btrfs/export.c
index ff27d7a..b4ffad8 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/export.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/export.c
@@ -21,9 +21,13 @@
 	int len = *max_len;
 	int type;
 
-	if ((len < BTRFS_FID_SIZE_NON_CONNECTABLE) ||
-	    (connectable && len < BTRFS_FID_SIZE_CONNECTABLE))
+	if (connectable && (len < BTRFS_FID_SIZE_CONNECTABLE)) {
+		*max_len = BTRFS_FID_SIZE_CONNECTABLE;
 		return 255;
+	} else if (len < BTRFS_FID_SIZE_NON_CONNECTABLE) {
+		*max_len = BTRFS_FID_SIZE_NON_CONNECTABLE;
+		return 255;
+	}
 
 	len  = BTRFS_FID_SIZE_NON_CONNECTABLE;
 	type = FILEID_BTRFS_WITHOUT_PARENT;
diff --git a/fs/exportfs/expfs.c b/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
index 4b68257..cfe5573 100644
--- a/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
+++ b/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
@@ -320,9 +320,14 @@
 	struct inode * inode = dentry->d_inode;
 	int len = *max_len;
 	int type = FILEID_INO32_GEN;
-	
-	if (len < 2 || (connectable && len < 4))
+
+	if (connectable && (len < 4)) {
+		*max_len = 4;
 		return 255;
+	} else if (len < 2) {
+		*max_len = 2;
+		return 255;
+	}
 
 	len = 2;
 	fid->i32.ino = inode->i_ino;
diff --git a/fs/fat/inode.c b/fs/fat/inode.c
index 86753fe..0e277ec 100644
--- a/fs/fat/inode.c
+++ b/fs/fat/inode.c
@@ -757,8 +757,10 @@
 	struct inode *inode =  de->d_inode;
 	u32 ipos_h, ipos_m, ipos_l;
 
-	if (len < 5)
+	if (len < 5) {
+		*lenp = 5;
 		return 255; /* no room */
+	}
 
 	ipos_h = MSDOS_I(inode)->i_pos >> 8;
 	ipos_m = (MSDOS_I(inode)->i_pos & 0xf0) << 24;
diff --git a/fs/fuse/inode.c b/fs/fuse/inode.c
index 9e3f68c..051b1a0 100644
--- a/fs/fuse/inode.c
+++ b/fs/fuse/inode.c
@@ -637,8 +637,10 @@
 	u64 nodeid;
 	u32 generation;
 
-	if (*max_len < len)
+	if (*max_len < len) {
+		*max_len = len;
 		return  255;
+	}
 
 	nodeid = get_fuse_inode(inode)->nodeid;
 	generation = inode->i_generation;
diff --git a/fs/gfs2/export.c b/fs/gfs2/export.c
index 9023db8..b5a5e60 100644
--- a/fs/gfs2/export.c
+++ b/fs/gfs2/export.c
@@ -36,9 +36,13 @@
 	struct super_block *sb = inode->i_sb;
 	struct gfs2_inode *ip = GFS2_I(inode);
 
-	if (*len < GFS2_SMALL_FH_SIZE ||
-	    (connectable && *len < GFS2_LARGE_FH_SIZE))
+	if (connectable && (*len < GFS2_LARGE_FH_SIZE)) {
+		*len = GFS2_LARGE_FH_SIZE;
 		return 255;
+	} else if (*len < GFS2_SMALL_FH_SIZE) {
+		*len = GFS2_SMALL_FH_SIZE;
+		return 255;
+	}
 
 	fh[0] = cpu_to_be32(ip->i_no_formal_ino >> 32);
 	fh[1] = cpu_to_be32(ip->i_no_formal_ino & 0xFFFFFFFF);
diff --git a/fs/isofs/export.c b/fs/isofs/export.c
index ed752cb..dd4687f 100644
--- a/fs/isofs/export.c
+++ b/fs/isofs/export.c
@@ -124,9 +124,13 @@
 	 * offset of the inode and the upper 16 bits of fh32[1] to
 	 * hold the offset of the parent.
 	 */
-
-	if (len < 3 || (connectable && len < 5))
+	if (connectable && (len < 5)) {
+		*max_len = 5;
 		return 255;
+	} else if (len < 3) {
+		*max_len = 3;
+		return 255;
+	}
 
 	len = 3;
 	fh32[0] = ei->i_iget5_block;
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/export.c b/fs/ocfs2/export.c
index 5dbc306..254652a 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/export.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/export.c
@@ -197,8 +197,12 @@
 		   dentry->d_name.len, dentry->d_name.name,
 		   fh, len, connectable);
 
-	if (len < 3 || (connectable && len < 6)) {
-		mlog(ML_ERROR, "fh buffer is too small for encoding\n");
+	if (connectable && (len < 6)) {
+		*max_len = 6;
+		type = 255;
+		goto bail;
+	} else if (len < 3) {
+		*max_len = 3;
 		type = 255;
 		goto bail;
 	}
diff --git a/fs/reiserfs/inode.c b/fs/reiserfs/inode.c
index 0bae036..1bba24b 100644
--- a/fs/reiserfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/reiserfs/inode.c
@@ -1593,8 +1593,13 @@
 	struct inode *inode = dentry->d_inode;
 	int maxlen = *lenp;
 
-	if (maxlen < 3)
+	if (need_parent && (maxlen < 5)) {
+		*lenp = 5;
 		return 255;
+	} else if (maxlen < 3) {
+		*lenp = 3;
+		return 255;
+	}
 
 	data[0] = inode->i_ino;
 	data[1] = le32_to_cpu(INODE_PKEY(inode)->k_dir_id);
diff --git a/fs/udf/namei.c b/fs/udf/namei.c
index b7c338d..f1dce84 100644
--- a/fs/udf/namei.c
+++ b/fs/udf/namei.c
@@ -1286,8 +1286,13 @@
 	struct fid *fid = (struct fid *)fh;
 	int type = FILEID_UDF_WITHOUT_PARENT;
 
-	if (len < 3 || (connectable && len < 5))
+	if (connectable && (len < 5)) {
+		*lenp = 5;
 		return 255;
+	} else if (len < 3) {
+		*lenp = 3;
+		return 255;
+	}
 
 	*lenp = 3;
 	fid->udf.block = location.logicalBlockNum;
diff --git a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_export.c b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_export.c
index fc0114d..f4f878f 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_export.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_export.c
@@ -89,8 +89,10 @@
 	 * seven combinations work.  The real answer is "don't use v2".
 	 */
 	len = xfs_fileid_length(fileid_type);
-	if (*max_len < len)
+	if (*max_len < len) {
+		*max_len = len;
 		return 255;
+	}
 	*max_len = len;
 
 	switch (fileid_type) {
diff --git a/include/linux/exportfs.h b/include/linux/exportfs.h
index 2802898..65afdfd 100644
--- a/include/linux/exportfs.h
+++ b/include/linux/exportfs.h
@@ -121,8 +121,10 @@
  *    set, the encode_fh() should store sufficient information so that a good
  *    attempt can be made to find not only the file but also it's place in the
  *    filesystem.   This typically means storing a reference to de->d_parent in
- *    the filehandle fragment.  encode_fh() should return the number of bytes
- *    stored or a negative error code such as %-ENOSPC
+ *    the filehandle fragment.  encode_fh() should return the fileid_type on
+ *    success and on error returns 255 (if the space needed to encode fh is
+ *    greater than @max_len*4 bytes). On error @max_len contains the minimum
+ *    size(in 4 byte unit) needed to encode the file handle.
  *
  * fh_to_dentry:
  *    @fh_to_dentry is given a &struct super_block (@sb) and a file handle
diff --git a/mm/shmem.c b/mm/shmem.c
index 5ee67c9..3437b65 100644
--- a/mm/shmem.c
+++ b/mm/shmem.c
@@ -2144,8 +2144,10 @@
 {
 	struct inode *inode = dentry->d_inode;
 
-	if (*len < 3)
+	if (*len < 3) {
+		*len = 3;
 		return 255;
+	}
 
 	if (inode_unhashed(inode)) {
 		/* Unfortunately insert_inode_hash is not idempotent,