diff --git a/weed/pb/filer_pb/filer_pb_helper.go b/weed/pb/filer_pb/filer_pb_helper.go
index 62d7e5d81..c72034bb4 100644
--- a/weed/pb/filer_pb/filer_pb_helper.go
+++ b/weed/pb/filer_pb/filer_pb_helper.go
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ func (entry *Entry) IsDirectoryKeyObject() bool {
 }
 
 func (entry *Entry) IsExpired() bool {
-	return entry.Attributes != nil && entry.Attributes.TtlSec > 0 &&
+	return entry != nil && entry.Attributes != nil && entry.Attributes.TtlSec > 0 &&
 		(entry.Attributes.GetMtime()+int64(entry.Attributes.TtlSec)) >= time.Now().Unix()
 }