diff --git a/daemon/import.go b/daemon/import.go
index 21ab7293c300e9c93591b77d852046d9a51c27ff..a0a475de7b4b8ad38985a64a125978f7ddaa9101 100644
--- a/daemon/import.go
+++ b/daemon/import.go
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ import (
 
 // Import an image from a tarball
 func (b *Backend) Import(req *pb.ImportRequest, stream pb.Control_ImportServer) error {
+	b.daemon.RLock()
+	defer b.daemon.RUnlock()
+
 	var (
 		srcRef     types.ImageReference
 		ctx        = stream.Context()
diff --git a/daemon/load.go b/daemon/load.go
index 2d0c15439f8eac992843185690a56d750a318277..c0713741cf0ccfc9627487e30b180ce11e782e12 100644
--- a/daemon/load.go
+++ b/daemon/load.go
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ func (b *Backend) getLoadOptions(req *pb.LoadRequest) (LoadOptions, error) {
 
 // Load loads the image
 func (b *Backend) Load(req *pb.LoadRequest, stream pb.Control_LoadServer) error {
+	b.daemon.RLock()
+	defer b.daemon.RUnlock()
+
 	logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 		"LoadID": req.GetLoadID(),
 	}).Info("LoadRequest received")
diff --git a/daemon/pull.go b/daemon/pull.go
index 90be2a914f71d8e896419160b738170ce57a5e80..dc8af036a3aa0e4ecc2bef2b5e9551885b32bc1f 100644
--- a/daemon/pull.go
+++ b/daemon/pull.go
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ type pullOptions struct {
 
 // Pull receives a pull request and pull the image from remote repository
 func (b *Backend) Pull(req *pb.PullRequest, stream pb.Control_PullServer) error {
+	b.daemon.RLock()
+	defer b.daemon.RUnlock()
+
 	logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
 		"PullID":    req.GetPullID(),
 		"ImageName": req.GetImageName(),