diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/overlayfs.h b/fs/overlayfs/overlayfs.h
index cb4e2d60ecf9..cf0c5ea2f2fc 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/overlayfs.h
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/overlayfs.h
@@ -310,9 +310,6 @@ int ovl_check_setxattr(struct dentry *dentry, struct dentry *upperdentry,
 		       enum ovl_xattr ox, const void *value, size_t size,
 		       int xerr);
 int ovl_set_impure(struct dentry *dentry, struct dentry *upperdentry);
-void ovl_set_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode);
-void ovl_clear_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode);
-bool ovl_test_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode);
 bool ovl_inuse_trylock(struct dentry *dentry);
 void ovl_inuse_unlock(struct dentry *dentry);
 bool ovl_is_inuse(struct dentry *dentry);
@@ -326,6 +323,21 @@ char *ovl_get_redirect_xattr(struct ovl_fs *ofs, struct dentry *dentry,
 			     int padding);
 int ovl_sync_status(struct ovl_fs *ofs);
 
+static inline void ovl_set_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode)
+{
+	set_bit(flag, &OVL_I(inode)->flags);
+}
+
+static inline void ovl_clear_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode)
+{
+	clear_bit(flag, &OVL_I(inode)->flags);
+}
+
+static inline bool ovl_test_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode)
+{
+	return test_bit(flag, &OVL_I(inode)->flags);
+}
+
 static inline bool ovl_is_impuredir(struct super_block *sb,
 				    struct dentry *dentry)
 {
@@ -430,6 +442,18 @@ int ovl_workdir_cleanup(struct inode *dir, struct vfsmount *mnt,
 			struct dentry *dentry, int level);
 int ovl_indexdir_cleanup(struct ovl_fs *ofs);
 
+/*
+ * Can we iterate real dir directly?
+ *
+ * Non-merge dir may contain whiteouts from a time it was a merge upper, before
+ * lower dir was removed under it and possibly before it was rotated from upper
+ * to lower layer.
+ */
+static inline bool ovl_dir_is_real(struct dentry *dir)
+{
+	return !ovl_test_flag(OVL_WHITEOUTS, d_inode(dir));
+}
+
 /* inode.c */
 int ovl_set_nlink_upper(struct dentry *dentry);
 int ovl_set_nlink_lower(struct dentry *dentry);
diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c b/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c
index f404a78e6b60..cc1e80257064 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/readdir.c
@@ -319,18 +319,6 @@ static inline int ovl_dir_read(struct path *realpath,
 	return err;
 }
 
-/*
- * Can we iterate real dir directly?
- *
- * Non-merge dir may contain whiteouts from a time it was a merge upper, before
- * lower dir was removed under it and possibly before it was rotated from upper
- * to lower layer.
- */
-static bool ovl_dir_is_real(struct dentry *dir)
-{
-	return !ovl_test_flag(OVL_WHITEOUTS, d_inode(dir));
-}
-
 static void ovl_dir_reset(struct file *file)
 {
 	struct ovl_dir_file *od = file->private_data;
diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/util.c b/fs/overlayfs/util.c
index 9826b003f1d2..47dab5a709db 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/util.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/util.c
@@ -422,18 +422,20 @@ void ovl_inode_update(struct inode *inode, struct dentry *upperdentry)
 	}
 }
 
-static void ovl_dentry_version_inc(struct dentry *dentry, bool impurity)
+static void ovl_dir_version_inc(struct dentry *dentry, bool impurity)
 {
 	struct inode *inode = d_inode(dentry);
 
 	WARN_ON(!inode_is_locked(inode));
+	WARN_ON(!d_is_dir(dentry));
 	/*
-	 * Version is used by readdir code to keep cache consistent.  For merge
-	 * dirs all changes need to be noted.  For non-merge dirs, cache only
-	 * contains impure (ones which have been copied up and have origins)
-	 * entries, so only need to note changes to impure entries.
+	 * Version is used by readdir code to keep cache consistent.
+	 * For merge dirs (or dirs with origin) all changes need to be noted.
+	 * For non-merge dirs, cache contains only impure entries (i.e. ones
+	 * which have been copied up and have origins), so only need to note
+	 * changes to impure entries.
 	 */
-	if (OVL_TYPE_MERGE(ovl_path_type(dentry)) || impurity)
+	if (!ovl_dir_is_real(dentry) || impurity)
 		OVL_I(inode)->version++;
 }
 
@@ -442,7 +444,7 @@ void ovl_dir_modified(struct dentry *dentry, bool impurity)
 	/* Copy mtime/ctime */
 	ovl_copyattr(d_inode(ovl_dentry_upper(dentry)), d_inode(dentry));
 
-	ovl_dentry_version_inc(dentry, impurity);
+	ovl_dir_version_inc(dentry, impurity);
 }
 
 u64 ovl_dentry_version_get(struct dentry *dentry)
@@ -638,21 +640,6 @@ int ovl_set_impure(struct dentry *dentry, struct dentry *upperdentry)
 	return err;
 }
 
-void ovl_set_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode)
-{
-	set_bit(flag, &OVL_I(inode)->flags);
-}
-
-void ovl_clear_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode)
-{
-	clear_bit(flag, &OVL_I(inode)->flags);
-}
-
-bool ovl_test_flag(unsigned long flag, struct inode *inode)
-{
-	return test_bit(flag, &OVL_I(inode)->flags);
-}
-
 /**
  * Caller must hold a reference to inode to prevent it from being freed while
  * it is marked inuse.
