diff --git a/fs/libfs.c b/fs/libfs.c
index 20b05a6db770..429caacc5229 100644
--- a/fs/libfs.c
+++ b/fs/libfs.c
@@ -605,8 +605,9 @@ struct dentry *find_next_child(struct dentry *parent, struct dentry *prev)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(find_next_child);
 
-void simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
-                              void (*callback)(struct dentry *))
+static void __simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
+                              void (*callback)(struct dentry *),
+			      bool locked)
 {
 	struct dentry *this = dget(dentry);
 	while (true) {
@@ -625,7 +626,8 @@ void simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
 			victim = this;
 			this = this->d_parent;
 			inode = this->d_inode;
-			inode_lock_nested(inode, I_MUTEX_CHILD);
+			if (!locked || victim != dentry)
+				inode_lock_nested(inode, I_MUTEX_CHILD);
 			if (simple_positive(victim)) {
 				d_invalidate(victim);	// avoid lost mounts
 				if (callback)
@@ -638,7 +640,8 @@ void simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
 						      inode_set_ctime_current(inode));
 				if (d_is_dir(dentry))
 					drop_nlink(inode);
-				inode_unlock(inode);
+				if (!locked)
+					inode_unlock(inode);
 				dput(dentry);
 				return;
 			}
@@ -647,8 +650,22 @@ void simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
 		this = child;
 	}
 }
+
+void simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
+                              void (*callback)(struct dentry *))
+{
+	return __simple_recursive_removal(dentry, callback, false);
+}
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(simple_recursive_removal);
 
+/* caller holds parent directory with I_MUTEX_PARENT */
+void locked_recursive_removal(struct dentry *dentry,
+                              void (*callback)(struct dentry *))
+{
+	return __simple_recursive_removal(dentry, callback, true);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(locked_recursive_removal);
+
 static const struct super_operations simple_super_operations = {
 	.statfs		= simple_statfs,
 };
diff --git a/include/linux/fs.h b/include/linux/fs.h
index 96c7925a6551..4f0c6bf8d652 100644
--- a/include/linux/fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/fs.h
@@ -3595,6 +3595,8 @@ extern int simple_rename(struct mnt_idmap *, struct inode *,
 			 unsigned int);
 extern void simple_recursive_removal(struct dentry *,
                               void (*callback)(struct dentry *));
+extern void locked_recursive_removal(struct dentry *,
+                              void (*callback)(struct dentry *));
 extern int noop_fsync(struct file *, loff_t, loff_t, int);
 extern ssize_t noop_direct_IO(struct kiocb *iocb, struct iov_iter *iter);
 extern int simple_empty(struct dentry *);