diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/fs-ioctl.c b/fs/bcachefs/fs-ioctl.c
index 1b9298dc8717e..99f157534404d 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/fs-ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/fs-ioctl.c
@@ -345,11 +345,12 @@ static long __bch2_ioctl_subvolume_create(struct bch_fs *c, struct file *filp,
 	if (arg.flags & BCH_SUBVOL_SNAPSHOT_RO)
 		create_flags |= BCH_CREATE_SNAPSHOT_RO;
 
-	/* why do we need this lock? */
-	down_read(&c->vfs_sb->s_umount);
-
-	if (arg.flags & BCH_SUBVOL_SNAPSHOT_CREATE)
+	if (arg.flags & BCH_SUBVOL_SNAPSHOT_CREATE) {
+		/* sync_inodes_sb enforce s_umount is locked */
+		down_read(&c->vfs_sb->s_umount);
 		sync_inodes_sb(c->vfs_sb);
+		up_read(&c->vfs_sb->s_umount);
+	}
 retry:
 	if (arg.src_ptr) {
 		error = user_path_at(arg.dirfd,
@@ -433,8 +434,6 @@ static long __bch2_ioctl_subvolume_create(struct bch_fs *c, struct file *filp,
 		goto retry;
 	}
 err1:
-	up_read(&c->vfs_sb->s_umount);
-
 	return error;
 }