diff --git a/include/net/l3mdev.h b/include/net/l3mdev.h
index 031c661aa14df7148c51f54284ab6e33429352d6..bdfa9d414360c7c4cd265e648071c18aade772f7 100644
--- a/include/net/l3mdev.h
+++ b/include/net/l3mdev.h
@@ -198,10 +198,12 @@ 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;