diff --git a/fs/ceph/caps.c b/fs/ceph/caps.c
index 1c4d72c5f23697..255a512f1277ed 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/caps.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/caps.c
@@ -1140,12 +1140,19 @@ void __ceph_remove_cap(struct ceph_cap *cap, bool queue_release)
 {
 	struct ceph_mds_session *session = cap->session;
 	struct ceph_inode_info *ci = cap->ci;
-	struct ceph_mds_client *mdsc =
-		ceph_sb_to_client(ci->vfs_inode.i_sb)->mdsc;
+	struct ceph_mds_client *mdsc;
 	int removed = 0;
 
+	/* 'ci' being NULL means the remove have already occurred */
+	if (!ci) {
+		dout("%s: cap inode is NULL\n", __func__);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	dout("__ceph_remove_cap %p from %p\n", cap, &ci->vfs_inode);
 
+	mdsc = ceph_inode_to_client(&ci->vfs_inode)->mdsc;
+
 	/* remove from inode's cap rbtree, and clear auth cap */
 	rb_erase(&cap->ci_node, &ci->i_caps);
 	if (ci->i_auth_cap == cap) {