diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/namei.c b/fs/ocfs2/namei.c
index 0673862..d8161a7 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/namei.c
@@ -310,13 +310,6 @@
 	/* get our super block */
 	osb = OCFS2_SB(dir->i_sb);
 
-	if (S_ISDIR(mode) && (dir->i_nlink >= OCFS2_LINK_MAX)) {
-		mlog(ML_ERROR, "inode %llu has i_nlink of %u\n",
-		     (unsigned long long)OCFS2_I(dir)->ip_blkno, dir->i_nlink);
-		status = -EMLINK;
-		goto leave;
-	}
-
 	handle = ocfs2_alloc_handle(osb);
 	if (handle == NULL) {
 		status = -ENOMEM;
@@ -331,6 +324,11 @@
 		goto leave;
 	}
 
+	if (S_ISDIR(mode) && (dir->i_nlink >= OCFS2_LINK_MAX)) {
+		status = -EMLINK;
+		goto leave;
+	}
+
 	dirfe = (struct ocfs2_dinode *) parent_fe_bh->b_data;
 	if (!dirfe->i_links_count) {
 		/* can't make a file in a deleted directory. */