diff --git a/fs/namespace.c b/fs/namespace.c
index 0a7d50db228d..3c90d853e091 100644
--- a/fs/namespace.c
+++ b/fs/namespace.c
@@ -130,7 +130,6 @@ static void mnt_ns_release(struct mnt_namespace *ns)
 {
 	/* keep alive for {list,stat}mount() */
 	if (ns && refcount_dec_and_test(&ns->passive)) {
-		fsnotify_mntns_delete(ns);
 		put_user_ns(ns->user_ns);
 		kfree(ns);
 	}
@@ -4279,6 +4278,8 @@ static void free_mnt_ns(struct mnt_namespace *ns)
 	if (!is_anon_ns(ns))
 		ns_common_free(ns);
 	dec_mnt_namespaces(ns->ucounts);
+	/* the last active reference is gone, no mark can show up anymore */
+	fsnotify_mntns_delete(ns);
 	mnt_ns_tree_remove(ns);
 }