diff --git a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
index d9841f44487f..c6bf3898d1bf 100644
--- a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
+++ b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
@@ -1920,6 +1920,7 @@ static int xfrm_notify_userpolicy(struct net *net)
 	int len = NLMSG_ALIGN(sizeof(*up));
 	struct nlmsghdr *nlh;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
+	int err;
 
 	skb = nlmsg_new(len, GFP_ATOMIC);
 	if (skb == NULL)
@@ -1938,7 +1939,11 @@ static int xfrm_notify_userpolicy(struct net *net)
 
 	nlmsg_end(skb, nlh);
 
-	return xfrm_nlmsg_multicast(net, skb, 0, XFRMNLGRP_POLICY);
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	err = xfrm_nlmsg_multicast(net, skb, 0, XFRMNLGRP_POLICY);
+	rcu_read_unlock();
+
+	return err;
 }
 
 static bool xfrm_userpolicy_is_valid(__u8 policy)