diff --git a/fs/overlayfs/inode.c b/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
index bb980721502d..56b55397a7a0 100644
--- a/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/overlayfs/inode.c
@@ -337,7 +337,9 @@ int ovl_xattr_set(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode, const char *name,
 		goto out;
 
 	if (!value && !upperdentry) {
+		old_cred = ovl_override_creds(dentry->d_sb);
 		err = vfs_getxattr(realdentry, name, NULL, 0);
+		revert_creds(old_cred);
 		if (err < 0)
 			goto out_drop_write;
 	}