diff --git a/fs/inode.c b/fs/inode.c
index b2ba83d2c4e..798052f8703 100644
--- a/fs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/inode.c
@@ -695,13 +695,15 @@ void unlock_new_inode(struct inode *inode)
 	}
 #endif
 	/*
-	 * This is special!  We do not need the spinlock
-	 * when clearing I_LOCK, because we're guaranteed
-	 * that nobody else tries to do anything about the
-	 * state of the inode when it is locked, as we
-	 * just created it (so there can be no old holders
-	 * that haven't tested I_LOCK).
+	 * This is special!  We do not need the spinlock when clearing I_LOCK,
+	 * because we're guaranteed that nobody else tries to do anything about
+	 * the state of the inode when it is locked, as we just created it (so
+	 * there can be no old holders that haven't tested I_LOCK).
+	 * However we must emit the memory barrier so that other CPUs reliably
+	 * see the clearing of I_LOCK after the other inode initialisation has
+	 * completed.
 	 */
+	smp_mb();
 	WARN_ON((inode->i_state & (I_LOCK|I_NEW)) != (I_LOCK|I_NEW));
 	inode->i_state &= ~(I_LOCK|I_NEW);
 	wake_up_inode(inode);