diff --git a/fs/nilfs2/super.c b/fs/nilfs2/super.c
index 86e3c00994e2..2d4d0bec711e 100644
--- a/fs/nilfs2/super.c
+++ b/fs/nilfs2/super.c
@@ -1076,7 +1076,7 @@ nilfs_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent)
 	__u64 cno;
 	int err;
 
-	nilfs = alloc_nilfs(sb->s_bdev);
+	nilfs = alloc_nilfs(sb);
 	if (!nilfs)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
diff --git a/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.c b/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.c
index e9fd241b9a0a..702115164cf3 100644
--- a/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.c
+++ b/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.c
@@ -56,12 +56,12 @@ void nilfs_set_last_segment(struct the_nilfs *nilfs,
 
 /**
  * alloc_nilfs - allocate a nilfs object
- * @bdev: block device to which the_nilfs is related
+ * @sb: super block instance
  *
  * Return Value: On success, pointer to the_nilfs is returned.
  * On error, NULL is returned.
  */
-struct the_nilfs *alloc_nilfs(struct block_device *bdev)
+struct the_nilfs *alloc_nilfs(struct super_block *sb)
 {
 	struct the_nilfs *nilfs;
 
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ struct the_nilfs *alloc_nilfs(struct block_device *bdev)
 	if (!nilfs)
 		return NULL;
 
-	nilfs->ns_bdev = bdev;
+	nilfs->ns_sb = sb;
+	nilfs->ns_bdev = sb->s_bdev;
 	atomic_set(&nilfs->ns_ndirtyblks, 0);
 	init_rwsem(&nilfs->ns_sem);
 	mutex_init(&nilfs->ns_snapshot_mount_mutex);
diff --git a/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.h b/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.h
index 79369fd6b13b..79d1421896d0 100644
--- a/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.h
+++ b/fs/nilfs2/the_nilfs.h
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ enum {
  * struct the_nilfs - struct to supervise multiple nilfs mount points
  * @ns_flags: flags
  * @ns_flushed_device: flag indicating if all volatile data was flushed
+ * @ns_sb: back pointer to super block instance
  * @ns_bdev: block device
  * @ns_sem: semaphore for shared states
  * @ns_snapshot_mount_mutex: mutex to protect snapshot mounts
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ struct the_nilfs {
 	unsigned long		ns_flags;
 	int			ns_flushed_device;
 
+	struct super_block     *ns_sb;
 	struct block_device    *ns_bdev;
 	struct rw_semaphore	ns_sem;
 	struct mutex		ns_snapshot_mount_mutex;
@@ -281,7 +283,7 @@ static inline int nilfs_sb_will_flip(struct the_nilfs *nilfs)
 }
 
 void nilfs_set_last_segment(struct the_nilfs *, sector_t, u64, __u64);
-struct the_nilfs *alloc_nilfs(struct block_device *bdev);
+struct the_nilfs *alloc_nilfs(struct super_block *sb);
 void destroy_nilfs(struct the_nilfs *nilfs);
 int init_nilfs(struct the_nilfs *nilfs, struct super_block *sb, char *data);
 int load_nilfs(struct the_nilfs *nilfs, struct super_block *sb);