diff --git a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
index 9f612a8f009d..1ce73acf3df0 100644
--- a/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
+++ b/fs/tracefs/event_inode.c
@@ -824,6 +824,8 @@ static void eventfs_remove_rec(struct eventfs_inode *ei, struct list_head *head,
 		eventfs_remove_rec(ei_child, head, level + 1);
 	}
 
+	ei->is_freed = 1;
+
 	list_del_rcu(&ei->list);
 	list_add_tail(&ei->del_list, head);
 }
diff --git a/fs/tracefs/internal.h b/fs/tracefs/internal.h
index 64fde9490f52..c7d88aaa949f 100644
--- a/fs/tracefs/internal.h
+++ b/fs/tracefs/internal.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ struct tracefs_inode {
  * @d_parent:   pointer to the parent's dentry
  * @d_children: The array of dentries to represent the files when created
  * @data:	The private data to pass to the callbacks
+ * @is_freed:	Flag set if the eventfs is on its way to be freed
  * @nr_entries: The number of items in @entries
  */
 struct eventfs_inode {
@@ -38,14 +39,13 @@ struct eventfs_inode {
 	 * Union - used for deletion
 	 * @del_list:	list of eventfs_inode to delete
 	 * @rcu:	eventfs_inode to delete in RCU
-	 * @is_freed:	node is freed if one of the above is set
 	 */
 	union {
 		struct list_head	del_list;
 		struct rcu_head		rcu;
-		unsigned long		is_freed;
 	};
-	int				nr_entries;
+	unsigned int			is_freed:1;
+	unsigned int			nr_entries:31;
 };
 
 static inline struct tracefs_inode *get_tracefs(const struct inode *inode)