diff --git a/fs/9p/vfs_inode.c b/fs/9p/vfs_inode.c
index cdaa5034cbef..3a811db2dc19 100644
--- a/fs/9p/vfs_inode.c
+++ b/fs/9p/vfs_inode.c
@@ -490,10 +490,19 @@ static int v9fs_at_to_dotl_flags(int flags)
  * - ext4 (with dir_nlink feature enabled) sets nlink to 1 if a dir has more
  *   than EXT4_LINK_MAX (65000) links.
  *
+ * In cacheless mode the server is the source of truth for nlink and the
+ * inode is going away immediately, so locally adjusting i_nlink buys
+ * nothing and races with concurrent metadata fetches that may already
+ * have observed the post-unlink value (nlink == 0).
+ *
  * @inode: inode whose nlink is being dropped
  */
 static void v9fs_dec_count(struct inode *inode)
 {
+	struct v9fs_session_info *v9ses = v9fs_inode2v9ses(inode);
+
+	if (!(v9ses->cache & (CACHE_META | CACHE_LOOSE)))
+		return;
 	if (!S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode) || inode->i_nlink > 2)
 		drop_nlink(inode);
 }