diff --git a/include/linux/cred.h b/include/linux/cred.h
index 1dc351d8548bfaa9f6afa4024910277fb84d4f2f..4b081e4911c84718e32b8c404c3f0c5467ecde22 100644
--- a/include/linux/cred.h
+++ b/include/linux/cred.h
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ static inline struct cred *get_new_cred(struct cred *cred)
  * @cred: The credentials to reference
  *
  * Get a reference on the specified set of credentials.  The caller must
- * release the reference.
+ * release the reference.  If %NULL is passed, it is returned with no action.
  *
  * This is used to deal with a committed set of credentials.  Although the
  * pointer is const, this will temporarily discard the const and increment the
@@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ static inline struct cred *get_new_cred(struct cred *cred)
 static inline const struct cred *get_cred(const struct cred *cred)
 {
 	struct cred *nonconst_cred = (struct cred *) cred;
+	if (!cred)
+		return cred;
 	validate_creds(cred);
 	nonconst_cred->non_rcu = 0;
 	return get_new_cred(nonconst_cred);
@@ -261,7 +263,7 @@ static inline const struct cred *get_cred(const struct cred *cred)
  * @cred: The credentials to release
  *
  * Release a reference to a set of credentials, deleting them when the last ref
- * is released.
+ * is released.  If %NULL is passed, nothing is done.
  *
  * This takes a const pointer to a set of credentials because the credentials
  * on task_struct are attached by const pointers to prevent accidental
@@ -271,9 +273,11 @@ static inline void put_cred(const struct cred *_cred)
 {
 	struct cred *cred = (struct cred *) _cred;
 
-	validate_creds(cred);
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&(cred)->usage))
-		__put_cred(cred);
+	if (cred) {
+		validate_creds(cred);
+		if (atomic_dec_and_test(&(cred)->usage))
+			__put_cred(cred);
+	}
 }
 
 /**