diff --git a/net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c b/net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c
index 9d87606c76ff4ae6051bc26d646a0e6b6051b6e5..dc6af1919deaf0e380c3b26c784d3807a20fed10 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nfnetlink_queue.c
@@ -167,7 +167,9 @@ instance_destroy_rcu(struct rcu_head *head)
 	struct nfqnl_instance *inst = container_of(head, struct nfqnl_instance,
 						   rcu);
 
+	rcu_read_lock();
 	nfqnl_flush(inst, NULL, 0);
+	rcu_read_unlock();
 	kfree(inst);
 	module_put(THIS_MODULE);
 }