diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfsproc.c b/fs/nfsd/nfsproc.c
index 06cd0db0f32b..4e06810b6104 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfsproc.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfsproc.c
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ nfsd_proc_create(struct svc_rqst *rqstp, struct nfsd_createargs *argp,
 	nfserr = nfserr_exist;
 	if (isdotent(argp->name, argp->len))
 		goto done;
-	fh_lock(dirfhp);
+	fh_lock_nested(dirfhp, I_MUTEX_PARENT);
 	dchild = lookup_one_len(argp->name, dirfhp->fh_dentry, argp->len);
 	if (IS_ERR(dchild)) {
 		nfserr = nfserrno(PTR_ERR(dchild));