diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/super.c b/fs/overlayfs/super.c
index fd21c5f74..0035cb80e 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/super.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/super.c
@@ -1066,11 +1066,13 @@ static int ovl_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent)
 			if (err < 0)
 				goto out_put_workdir;
 
-			if (!err) {
-				pr_err("overlayfs: upper fs needs to support d_type.\n");
-				err = -EINVAL;
-				goto out_put_workdir;
-			}
+			/*
+			 * We allowed this configuration and don't want to
+			 * break users over kernel upgrade. So warn instead
+			 * of erroring out.
+			 */
+			if (!err)
+				pr_warn("overlayfs: upper fs needs to support d_type.\n");
 		}
 	}