diff --git a/drivers/base/firmware_loader/main.c b/drivers/base/firmware_loader/main.c
index 4f6b76bd957e..12ab50d29548 100644
--- a/drivers/base/firmware_loader/main.c
+++ b/drivers/base/firmware_loader/main.c
@@ -761,6 +761,8 @@ _request_firmware(const struct firmware **firmware_p, const char *name,
 		  enum fw_opt opt_flags)
 {
 	struct firmware *fw = NULL;
+	struct cred *kern_cred = NULL;
+	const struct cred *old_cred;
 	int ret;
 
 	if (!firmware_p)
@@ -776,6 +778,18 @@ _request_firmware(const struct firmware **firmware_p, const char *name,
 	if (ret <= 0) /* error or already assigned */
 		goto out;
 
+	/*
+	 * We are about to try to access the firmware file. Because we may have been
+	 * called by a driver when serving an unrelated request from userland, we use
+	 * the kernel credentials to read the file.
+	 */
+	kern_cred = prepare_kernel_cred(NULL);
+	if (!kern_cred) {
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
+		goto out;
+	}
+	old_cred = override_creds(kern_cred);
+
 	ret = fw_get_filesystem_firmware(device, fw->priv, "", NULL);
 #ifdef CONFIG_FW_LOADER_COMPRESS
 	if (ret == -ENOENT)
@@ -792,6 +806,9 @@ _request_firmware(const struct firmware **firmware_p, const char *name,
 	} else
 		ret = assign_fw(fw, device, opt_flags);
 
+	revert_creds(old_cred);
+	put_cred(kern_cred);
+
  out:
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		fw_abort_batch_reqs(fw);