diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
index ec350d4d921c..276914ae3c60 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/dir.c
@@ -603,6 +603,10 @@ static int ovl_create_object(struct dentry *dentry, int mode, dev_t rdev,
 	if (!inode)
 		goto out_drop_write;
 
+	spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
+	inode->i_state |= I_CREATING;
+	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
+
 	inode_init_owner(inode, dentry->d_parent->d_inode, mode);
 	attr.mode = inode->i_mode;