diff --git a/sys/fs/ext2fs/ext2_extern.h b/fs/ext2fs/ext2_extern.h
--- a/sys/fs/ext2fs/ext2_extern.h
+++ b/fs/ext2fs/ext2_extern.h
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
 int	ext4_bmapext(struct vnode *, int32_t, int64_t *, int *, int *);
 int	ext2_bmap_seekdata(struct vnode *, off_t *);
 void	ext2_clusteracct(struct m_ext2fs *, char *, int, e4fs_daddr_t, int);
-void	ext2_dirbad(struct inode *ip, doff_t offset, char *how);
+void	ext2_dirbad(struct inode *ip, doff_t offset, char *how, bool do_panic);
 int	ext2_ei2i(struct ext2fs_dinode *, struct inode *);
 int	ext2_getlbns(struct vnode *, daddr_t, struct indir *, int *);
 int	ext2_i2ei(struct inode *, struct ext2fs_dinode *);
diff --git a/sys/fs/ext2fs/ext2_lookup.c b/fs/ext2fs/ext2_lookup.c
--- a/sys/fs/ext2fs/ext2_lookup.c
+++ b/fs/ext2fs/ext2_lookup.c
@@ -538,9 +538,9 @@
 	 */
 	if (entryoffsetinblock + EXT2_DIR_REC_LEN(ep->e2d_namlen) >
 	    dp->i_size) {
-		ext2_dirbad(dp, i_offset, "i_size too small");
-		dp->i_size = entryoffsetinblock + EXT2_DIR_REC_LEN(ep->e2d_namlen);
-		dp->i_flag |= IN_CHANGE | IN_UPDATE;
+		ext2_dirbad(dp, i_offset, "i_size too small", false);
+		brelse(bp);
+		return (EIO);
 	}
 	brelse(bp);
 
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@
 		if (ext2_check_direntry(vdp, ep, offset)) {
 			int i;
 
-			ext2_dirbad(ip, *offp, "mangled entry");
+			ext2_dirbad(ip, *offp, "mangled entry", false);
 			i = bsize - (offset & (bsize - 1));
 			*offp += i;
 			offset += i;
@@ -797,18 +797,18 @@
 }
 
 void
-ext2_dirbad(struct inode *ip, doff_t offset, char *how)
+ext2_dirbad(struct inode *ip, doff_t offset, char *how, bool do_panic)
 {
 	struct mount *mp;
 
 	mp = ITOV(ip)->v_mount;
-	if ((mp->mnt_flag & MNT_RDONLY) == 0)
+	if (do_panic && (mp->mnt_flag & MNT_RDONLY) == 0)
 		panic("ext2_dirbad: %s: bad dir ino %ju at offset %ld: %s\n",
 		    mp->mnt_stat.f_mntonname, (uintmax_t)ip->i_number,
 		    (long)offset, how);
-	else
-		SDT_PROBE4(ext2fs, , trace, ext2_dirbad_error,
-		    mp->mnt_stat.f_mntonname, ip->i_number, offset, how);
+
+	SDT_PROBE4(ext2fs, , trace, ext2_dirbad_error,
+	    mp->mnt_stat.f_mntonname, ip->i_number, offset, how);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/sys/fs/ext2fs/ext2_vnops.c b/fs/ext2fs/ext2_vnops.c
--- a/sys/fs/ext2fs/ext2_vnops.c
+++ b/fs/ext2fs/ext2_vnops.c
@@ -1088,8 +1088,14 @@
 				if (namlen != 2 ||
 				    dirbuf->dotdot_name[0] != '.' ||
 				    dirbuf->dotdot_name[1] != '.') {
+					/*
+					 * The filesystem is in corrupted state,
+					 * need to run fsck to fix mangled dir
+					 * and remove unneeded directory entry
+					 * from new parent.
+					 */
 					ext2_dirbad(xp, (doff_t)12,
-					    "rename: mangled dir");
+					    "rename: mangled dir", true);
 				} else {
 					dirbuf->dotdot_ino = htole32(newparent);
 					/*