diff --git a/fs/cifs/file.c b/fs/cifs/file.c
index 8ea6ca5..c4860cf 100644
--- a/fs/cifs/file.c
+++ b/fs/cifs/file.c
@@ -72,10 +72,15 @@ static u32 cifs_posix_convert_flags(unsigned int flags)
 	else if ((flags & O_ACCMODE) == O_RDWR)
 		posix_flags = SMB_O_RDWR;
 
-	if (flags & O_CREAT)
+	if (flags & O_CREAT) {
 		posix_flags |= SMB_O_CREAT;
-	if (flags & O_EXCL)
-		posix_flags |= SMB_O_EXCL;
+		if (flags & O_EXCL)
+			posix_flags |= SMB_O_EXCL;
+	} else if (flags & O_EXCL)
+		WARN_ONCE(1, "Application has incorrectly set O_EXCL flag "
+				"without O_CREAT on file open, ignoring O_EXCL");
+
+
 	if (flags & O_TRUNC)
 		posix_flags |= SMB_O_TRUNC;
 	/* be safe and imply O_SYNC for O_DSYNC */