The d_lock was used in prepend_path() to protect dentry->d_name from being changed under the hood. As the caller of prepend_path() has to take the rename_lock before calling into it, there is no chance that d_name will be changed. The d_lock lock is only needed when the rename_lock is not taken. Signed-off-by: Waiman Long <Waiman.Long@xxxxxx> --- fs/dcache.c | 3 +-- 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/fs/dcache.c b/fs/dcache.c index 9477d80..e3d6543 100644 --- a/fs/dcache.c +++ b/fs/dcache.c @@ -2529,6 +2529,7 @@ static int prepend_name(char **buffer, int *buflen, struct qstr *name) * @buflen: pointer to buffer length * * Caller holds the rename_lock. + * There is no need to lock the dentry as its name cannot be changed. */ static int prepend_path(const struct path *path, const struct path *root, @@ -2555,9 +2556,7 @@ static int prepend_path(const struct path *path, } parent = dentry->d_parent; prefetch(parent); - spin_lock(&dentry->d_lock); error = prepend_name(buffer, buflen, &dentry->d_name); - spin_unlock(&dentry->d_lock); if (!error) error = prepend(buffer, buflen, "/", 1); if (error) -- 1.7.1 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe autofs" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html