diff --git a/fs/nfs/pagelist.c b/fs/nfs/pagelist.c
index 919490232e17..137b549e63db 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/pagelist.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/pagelist.c
@@ -65,6 +65,13 @@ nfs_create_request(struct nfs_open_context *ctx, struct inode *inode,
 	if (req == NULL)
 		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
 
+	/* get lock context early so we can deal with alloc failures */
+	req->wb_lock_context = nfs_get_lock_context(ctx);
+	if (req->wb_lock_context == NULL) {
+		nfs_page_free(req);
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+	}
+
 	/* Initialize the request struct. Initially, we assume a
 	 * long write-back delay. This will be adjusted in
 	 * update_nfs_request below if the region is not locked. */
@@ -79,7 +86,6 @@ nfs_create_request(struct nfs_open_context *ctx, struct inode *inode,
 	req->wb_pgbase	= offset;
 	req->wb_bytes   = count;
 	req->wb_context = get_nfs_open_context(ctx);
-	req->wb_lock_context = nfs_get_lock_context(ctx);
 	kref_init(&req->wb_kref);
 	return req;
 }