diff --git a/fs/ksmbd/misc.c b/fs/ksmbd/misc.c
index 6a19f4bc692d..60e7ac62c917 100644
--- a/fs/ksmbd/misc.c
+++ b/fs/ksmbd/misc.c
@@ -162,17 +162,14 @@ char *convert_to_nt_pathname(char *filename)
 {
 	char *ab_pathname;
 
-	if (strlen(filename) == 0) {
-		ab_pathname = kmalloc(2, GFP_KERNEL);
-		ab_pathname[0] = '\\';
-		ab_pathname[1] = '\0';
-	} else {
-		ab_pathname = kstrdup(filename, GFP_KERNEL);
-		if (!ab_pathname)
-			return NULL;
+	if (strlen(filename) == 0)
+		filename = "\\";
 
-		ksmbd_conv_path_to_windows(ab_pathname);
-	}
+	ab_pathname = kstrdup(filename, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!ab_pathname)
+		return NULL;
+
+	ksmbd_conv_path_to_windows(ab_pathname);
 	return ab_pathname;
 }