diff --git a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
index 2e152e5f2186..c416725d28c4 100644
--- a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
+++ b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
@@ -2921,6 +2921,7 @@ static struct sock *netlink_seq_socket_idx(struct seq_file *seq, loff_t pos)
 }
 
 static void *netlink_seq_start(struct seq_file *seq, loff_t *pos)
+	__acquires(RCU)
 {
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	return *pos ? netlink_seq_socket_idx(seq, *pos - 1) : SEQ_START_TOKEN;
@@ -2970,6 +2971,7 @@ static void *netlink_seq_next(struct seq_file *seq, void *v, loff_t *pos)
 }
 
 static void netlink_seq_stop(struct seq_file *seq, void *v)
+	__releases(RCU)
 {
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 }