diff --git a/fs/ext4/xattr.c b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
index c14a674c3e3d..e0e1956dcdd3 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ static int ext4_xattr_inode_iget(struct inode *parent, unsigned long ea_ino,
 		ext4_set_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_LUSTRE_EA_INODE);
 		ext4_xattr_inode_set_ref(inode, 1);
 	} else {
-		inode_lock(inode);
+		inode_lock_nested(inode, I_MUTEX_XATTR);
 		inode->i_flags |= S_NOQUOTA;
 		inode_unlock(inode);
 	}
@@ -1039,7 +1039,7 @@ static int ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref(handle_t *handle, struct inode *ea_inode,
 	s64 ref_count;
 	int ret;
 
-	inode_lock(ea_inode);
+	inode_lock_nested(ea_inode, I_MUTEX_XATTR);
 
 	ret = ext4_reserve_inode_write(handle, ea_inode, &iloc);
 	if (ret)