diff --git a/fs/dcache.c b/fs/dcache.c
index e9a07b2a0948..b60ddc41d783 100644
--- a/fs/dcache.c
+++ b/fs/dcache.c
@@ -2404,6 +2404,7 @@ struct dentry *d_materialise_unique(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode)
 			if (d_ancestor(alias, dentry)) {
 				/* Check for loops */
 				actual = ERR_PTR(-ELOOP);
+				spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
 			} else if (IS_ROOT(alias)) {
 				/* Is this an anonymous mountpoint that we
 				 * could splice into our tree? */
@@ -2413,7 +2414,7 @@ struct dentry *d_materialise_unique(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode)
 				goto found;
 			} else {
 				/* Nope, but we must(!) avoid directory
-				 * aliasing */
+				 * aliasing. This drops inode->i_lock */
 				actual = __d_unalias(inode, dentry, alias);
 			}
 			write_sequnlock(&rename_lock);