diff --git a/fs/ext4/extents.c b/fs/ext4/extents.c
index c97e7a7e1476..575e674219a8 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/extents.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/extents.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ static void ext4_ext_drop_refs(struct ext4_ext_path *path)
 {
 	int depth, i;
 
-	if (!path)
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(path))
 		return;
 	depth = path->p_depth;
 	for (i = 0; i <= depth; i++, path++)
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ static void ext4_ext_drop_refs(struct ext4_ext_path *path)
 
 void ext4_free_ext_path(struct ext4_ext_path *path)
 {
+	if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(path))
+		return;
 	ext4_ext_drop_refs(path);
 	kfree(path);
 }
@@ -4193,7 +4195,6 @@ int ext4_ext_map_blocks(handle_t *handle, struct inode *inode,
 	path = ext4_find_extent(inode, map->m_lblk, NULL, 0);
 	if (IS_ERR(path)) {
 		err = PTR_ERR(path);
-		path = NULL;
 		goto out;
 	}
 
diff --git a/fs/ext4/move_extent.c b/fs/ext4/move_extent.c
index d3e61f1be046..b64661ea6e0e 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/move_extent.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/move_extent.c
@@ -17,27 +17,23 @@
  * get_ext_path() - Find an extent path for designated logical block number.
  * @inode:	inode to be searched
  * @lblock:	logical block number to find an extent path
- * @ppath:	pointer to an extent path pointer (for output)
+ * @path:	pointer to an extent path
  *
- * ext4_find_extent wrapper. Return 0 on success, or a negative error value
- * on failure.
+ * ext4_find_extent wrapper. Return an extent path pointer on success,
+ * or an error pointer on failure.
  */
-static inline int
+static inline struct ext4_ext_path *
 get_ext_path(struct inode *inode, ext4_lblk_t lblock,
-		struct ext4_ext_path **ppath)
+	     struct ext4_ext_path *path)
 {
-	struct ext4_ext_path *path = *ppath;
-
-	*ppath = NULL;
 	path = ext4_find_extent(inode, lblock, path, EXT4_EX_NOCACHE);
 	if (IS_ERR(path))
-		return PTR_ERR(path);
+		return path;
 	if (path[ext_depth(inode)].p_ext == NULL) {
 		ext4_free_ext_path(path);
-		return -ENODATA;
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENODATA);
 	}
-	*ppath = path;
-	return 0;
+	return path;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -95,9 +91,11 @@ mext_check_coverage(struct inode *inode, ext4_lblk_t from, ext4_lblk_t count,
 	int ret = 0;
 	ext4_lblk_t last = from + count;
 	while (from < last) {
-		*err = get_ext_path(inode, from, &path);
-		if (*err)
-			goto out;
+		path = get_ext_path(inode, from, path);
+		if (IS_ERR(path)) {
+			*err = PTR_ERR(path);
+			return ret;
+		}
 		ext = path[ext_depth(inode)].p_ext;
 		if (unwritten != ext4_ext_is_unwritten(ext))
 			goto out;
@@ -636,9 +634,11 @@ ext4_move_extents(struct file *o_filp, struct file *d_filp, __u64 orig_blk,
 		int offset_in_page;
 		int unwritten, cur_len;
 
-		ret = get_ext_path(orig_inode, o_start, &path);
-		if (ret)
+		path = get_ext_path(orig_inode, o_start, path);
+		if (IS_ERR(path)) {
+			ret = PTR_ERR(path);
 			goto out;
+		}
 		ex = path[path->p_depth].p_ext;
 		cur_blk = le32_to_cpu(ex->ee_block);
 		cur_len = ext4_ext_get_actual_len(ex);