diff --git a/fs/sysfs/mount.c b/fs/sysfs/mount.c
index 8133ca36ee0e..84ef378673a8 100644
--- a/fs/sysfs/mount.c
+++ b/fs/sysfs/mount.c
@@ -52,7 +52,9 @@ static int sysfs_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent)
 	sysfs_sb = sb;
 
 	/* get root inode, initialize and unlock it */
+	mutex_lock(&sysfs_mutex);
 	inode = sysfs_get_inode(&sysfs_root);
+	mutex_unlock(&sysfs_mutex);
 	if (!inode) {
 		pr_debug("sysfs: could not get root inode\n");
 		return -ENOMEM;