diff --git a/fs/btrfs/volumes.c b/fs/btrfs/volumes.c
index 344d18de1f08..8898682c9103 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/volumes.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/volumes.c
@@ -4320,10 +4320,12 @@ static int balance_kthread(void *data)
 	struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info = data;
 	int ret = 0;
 
+	sb_start_write(fs_info->sb);
 	mutex_lock(&fs_info->balance_mutex);
 	if (fs_info->balance_ctl)
 		ret = btrfs_balance(fs_info, fs_info->balance_ctl, NULL);
 	mutex_unlock(&fs_info->balance_mutex);
+	sb_end_write(fs_info->sb);
 
 	return ret;
 }