diff --git a/fs/btrfs/xattr.c b/fs/btrfs/xattr.c
index af6246f36a9e..b3fd7b3af2b8 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/xattr.c
@@ -231,7 +231,13 @@ int btrfs_setxattr_trans(struct inode *inode, const char *name,
        struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans;
        int ret;

-       trans = btrfs_start_transaction(root, 2);
+       if (current->journal_info) {
+               WARN_ON(strncmp(name, XATTR_SECURITY_PREFIX,
+                               XATTR_SECURITY_PREFIX_LEN) != 0);
+               trans = btrfs_join_transaction(root);
+       } else {
+               trans = btrfs_start_transaction(root, 2);
+       }
        if (IS_ERR(trans))
                return PTR_ERR(trans);