diff --git a/include/net/l3mdev.h b/include/net/l3mdev.h
index ba8dc2523c59f925adec40ec4ab60ded201585f7..eb5ef1b2e0597aa2ffb598924bdfb5c521c197cd 100644
--- a/include/net/l3mdev.h
+++ b/include/net/l3mdev.h
@@ -204,10 +204,12 @@ struct sk_buff *l3mdev_l3_out(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb, u16 proto)
 	if (netif_is_l3_slave(dev)) {
 		struct net_device *master;
 
+		rcu_read_lock();
 		master = netdev_master_upper_dev_get_rcu(dev);
 		if (master && master->l3mdev_ops->l3mdev_l3_out)
 			skb = master->l3mdev_ops->l3mdev_l3_out(master, sk,
 								skb, proto);
+		rcu_read_unlock();
 	}
 
 	return skb;