diff --git a/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c b/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
index 06e6f10ee8ec6611175fcb982e146a0923b3f75b..f6aa75111b41ef29fb11054d91b38f8c007d575a 100644
--- a/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
+++ b/fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c
@@ -253,7 +253,6 @@ static struct inode *proc_sys_make_inode(struct super_block *sb,
 		inode->i_fop = &proc_sys_file_operations;
 	} else {
 		inode->i_mode |= S_IFDIR;
-		clear_nlink(inode);
 		inode->i_op = &proc_sys_dir_operations;
 		inode->i_fop = &proc_sys_dir_file_operations;
 	}