diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/super.c b/fs/overlayfs/super.c
index 619ad4b016d2..6b0111ae2ceb 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/super.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/super.c
@@ -936,7 +936,8 @@ static int ovl_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent)
 
 	err = -EINVAL;
 	if (!ufs->config.lowerdir) {
-		pr_err("overlayfs: missing 'lowerdir'\n");
+		if (!silent)
+			pr_err("overlayfs: missing 'lowerdir'\n");
 		goto out_free_config;
 	}