diff --git a/fs/proc/generic.c b/fs/proc/generic.c
index d8b3c6a7173fb19d884887ea1654d14ca29c2cc6..c6495decf1edaea5ba61d661c857c17fa85d6226 100644
--- a/fs/proc/generic.c
+++ b/fs/proc/generic.c
@@ -670,6 +670,12 @@ void pde_put(struct proc_dir_entry *pde)
 	}
 }
 
+static void pde_erase(struct proc_dir_entry *pde, struct proc_dir_entry *parent)
+{
+	rb_erase(&pde->subdir_node, &parent->subdir);
+	RB_CLEAR_NODE(&pde->subdir_node);
+}
+
 /*
  * Remove a /proc entry and free it if it's not currently in use.
  */
@@ -688,7 +694,7 @@ void remove_proc_entry(const char *name, struct proc_dir_entry *parent)
 
 	de = pde_subdir_find(parent, fn, len);
 	if (de) {
-		rb_erase(&de->subdir_node, &parent->subdir);
+		pde_erase(de, parent);
 		if (S_ISDIR(de->mode)) {
 			parent->nlink--;
 		}
@@ -726,13 +732,13 @@ int remove_proc_subtree(const char *name, struct proc_dir_entry *parent)
 		write_unlock(&proc_subdir_lock);
 		return -ENOENT;
 	}
-	rb_erase(&root->subdir_node, &parent->subdir);
+	pde_erase(root, parent);
 
 	de = root;
 	while (1) {
 		next = pde_subdir_first(de);
 		if (next) {
-			rb_erase(&next->subdir_node, &de->subdir);
+			pde_erase(next, de);
 			de = next;
 			continue;
 		}