diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index da0a68aa1fce..8594feea2d93 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -134,10 +134,11 @@ static struct buffer_head *__ext4_read_dirblock(struct inode *inode,
 
 		return bh;
 	}
-	if (!bh && (type == INDEX || type == DIRENT_HTREE)) {
+	/* The first directory block must not be a hole. */
+	if (!bh && (type == INDEX || type == DIRENT_HTREE || block == 0)) {
 		ext4_error_inode(inode, func, line, block,
-				 "Directory hole found for htree %s block",
-				 (type == INDEX) ? "index" : "leaf");
+				 "Directory hole found for htree %s block %u",
+				 (type == INDEX) ? "index" : "leaf", block);
 		return ERR_PTR(-EFSCORRUPTED);
 	}
 	if (!bh)
@@ -2850,10 +2851,7 @@ bool ext4_empty_dir(struct inode *inode)
 		EXT4_ERROR_INODE(inode, "invalid size");
 		return true;
 	}
-	/* The first directory block must not be a hole,
-	 * so treat it as DIRENT_HTREE
-	 */
-	bh = ext4_read_dirblock(inode, 0, DIRENT_HTREE);
+	bh = ext4_read_dirblock(inode, 0, EITHER);
 	if (IS_ERR(bh))
 		return true;
 
@@ -3425,10 +3423,7 @@ static struct buffer_head *ext4_get_first_dir_block(handle_t *handle,
 		struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *de;
 		unsigned int offset;
 
-		/* The first directory block must not be a hole, so
-		 * treat it as DIRENT_HTREE
-		 */
-		bh = ext4_read_dirblock(inode, 0, DIRENT_HTREE);
+		bh = ext4_read_dirblock(inode, 0, EITHER);
 		if (IS_ERR(bh)) {
 			*retval = PTR_ERR(bh);
 			return NULL;