diff --git a/fs/namei.c b/fs/namei.c
index 7657be4..ac6d214 100644
--- a/fs/namei.c
+++ b/fs/namei.c
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
 	return retval;
 }
 
-static char *getname_flags(const char __user * filename, int flags)
+static char *getname_flags(const char __user *filename, int flags, int *empty)
 {
 	char *tmp, *result;
 
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@
 
 		result = tmp;
 		if (retval < 0) {
+			if (retval == -ENOENT && empty)
+				*empty = 1;
 			if (retval != -ENOENT || !(flags & LOOKUP_EMPTY)) {
 				__putname(tmp);
 				result = ERR_PTR(retval);
@@ -160,7 +162,7 @@
 
 char *getname(const char __user * filename)
 {
-	return getname_flags(filename, 0);
+	return getname_flags(filename, 0, 0);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_AUDITSYSCALL
@@ -1798,11 +1800,11 @@
 	return __lookup_hash(&this, base, NULL);
 }
 
-int user_path_at(int dfd, const char __user *name, unsigned flags,
-		 struct path *path)
+int user_path_at_empty(int dfd, const char __user *name, unsigned flags,
+		 struct path *path, int *empty)
 {
 	struct nameidata nd;
-	char *tmp = getname_flags(name, flags);
+	char *tmp = getname_flags(name, flags, empty);
 	int err = PTR_ERR(tmp);
 	if (!IS_ERR(tmp)) {
 
@@ -1816,6 +1818,12 @@
 	return err;
 }
 
+int user_path_at(int dfd, const char __user *name, unsigned flags,
+		 struct path *path)
+{
+	return user_path_at_empty(dfd, name, flags, path, 0);
+}
+
 static int user_path_parent(int dfd, const char __user *path,
 			struct nameidata *nd, char **name)
 {