diff --git a/fs/eventpoll.c b/fs/eventpoll.c
index 0e65c7431dfc..eed8cecd94e3 100644
--- a/fs/eventpoll.c
+++ b/fs/eventpoll.c
@@ -459,11 +459,14 @@ static struct kmem_cache *pwq_cache __ro_after_init;
  * Wrapper anchor for file->f_ep when the watched file is not itself an
  * eventpoll; for the epoll-watches-epoll case, file->f_ep points at
  * &watched_ep->refs directly. The ->next field threads
- * ctx->tfile_check_list during one EPOLL_CTL_ADD path check.
+ * ctx->tfile_check_list during one EPOLL_CTL_ADD path check. The ->file
+ * field holds a reference to the associated file while the head is on
+ * the list.
  */
 struct epitems_head {
 	struct hlist_head epitems;
 	struct epitems_head *next;
+	struct file *file;
 };
 
 static struct kmem_cache *ephead_cache __ro_after_init;
@@ -480,6 +483,16 @@ static void list_file(struct file *file, struct ep_ctl_ctx *ctx)
 
 	head = container_of(file->f_ep, struct epitems_head, epitems);
 	if (!head->next) {
+		/*
+		 * The caller owns a reference to @file or holds the ep->mtx for the
+		 * epitem that led here. The latter blocks eventpoll_release_file()
+		 * before the file allocation can be freed and reused. A dying leaf
+		 * can be skipped since removing links cannot increase the reverse
+		 * path count.
+		 */
+		if (!file_ref_get(&file->f_ref))
+			return;
+		head->file = file;
 		head->next = ctx->tfile_check_list;
 		ctx->tfile_check_list = head;
 	}
@@ -489,15 +502,18 @@ static void unlist_file(struct epitems_head *head)
 {
 	struct epitems_head *to_free = head;
 	struct hlist_node *p = rcu_dereference(hlist_first_rcu(&head->epitems));
+	struct file *file = head->file;
 	if (p) {
 		struct epitem *epi= container_of(p, struct epitem, fllink);
 		spin_lock(&epi->ffd.file->f_lock);
 		if (!hlist_empty(&head->epitems))
 			to_free = NULL;
 		head->next = NULL;
+		head->file = NULL;
 		spin_unlock(&epi->ffd.file->f_lock);
 	}
 	free_ephead(to_free);
+	fput(file);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SYSCTL