diff --git a/fs/inode/fs_filedetach.c b/fs/inode/fs_filedetach.c
index ff71d5f2d9f..601e9da2ccd 100644
--- a/fs/inode/fs_filedetach.c
+++ b/fs/inode/fs_filedetach.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /****************************************************************************
  * fs/inode/fs_filedetach.c
  *
- *   Copyright (C) 2016-2017 Gregory Nutt. All rights reserved.
+ *   Copyright (C) 2016-2017, 2019 Gregory Nutt. All rights reserved.
  *   Author: Gregory Nutt <gnutt@nuttx.org>
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ int file_detach(int fd, FAR struct file *filep)
   FAR struct filelist *list;
   FAR struct file *parent;
 
+  DEBUGASSERT(filep != NULL);
+
   /* Verify the file descriptor range */
 
   if (fd < 0 || fd >= CONFIG_NFILE_DESCRIPTORS)
diff --git a/fs/inode/fs_fileopen.c b/fs/inode/fs_fileopen.c
index 08f2ab82291..df8b12253bb 100644
--- a/fs/inode/fs_fileopen.c
+++ b/fs/inode/fs_fileopen.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /****************************************************************************
  * fs/inode/fs_fileopen.c
  *
- *   Copyright (C) 2018 Gregory Nutt. All rights reserved.
+ *   Copyright (C) 2018-2019 Gregory Nutt. All rights reserved.
  *   Author: Gregory Nutt <gnutt@nuttx.org>
  *
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ int file_open(FAR struct file *filep, FAR const char *path, int oflags, ...)
   int ret;
   int fd;
 
+  DEBUGASSERT(filep != NULL && path != NULL);
+
   /* At present, this is just a placeholder.  It is just a wrapper around
    * nx_open() followed by a called to file_detach().  Ideally, this should
    * a native open function that opens the VFS node directly without using