diff --git a/kmod/src/data.c b/kmod/src/data.c
index cce006d3..8c249acd 100644
--- a/kmod/src/data.c
+++ b/kmod/src/data.c
@@ -1175,7 +1175,7 @@ static int scoutfs_write_end(struct file *file, struct address_space *mapping,
 			scoutfs_inode_inc_data_version(inode);
 		}
 		/* XXX kind of a big hammer, inode life cycle needs work */
-		scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode);
+		scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode, NULL);
 		scoutfs_inode_queue_writeback(inode);
 	}
 	scoutfs_release_trans(sb);
diff --git a/kmod/src/dir.c b/kmod/src/dir.c
index 3b711372..0a46cce2 100644
--- a/kmod/src/dir.c
+++ b/kmod/src/dir.c
@@ -634,8 +634,8 @@ static int scoutfs_mknod(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry, umode_t mode,
 		inc_nlink(dir);
 	}
 
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode);
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode, inode_lock);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir, dir_lock);
 
 	insert_inode_hash(inode);
 	d_instantiate(dentry, inode);
@@ -712,8 +712,8 @@ static int scoutfs_link(struct dentry *old_dentry,
 	inode->i_ctime = dir->i_mtime;
 	inc_nlink(inode);
 
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode);
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode, inode_lock);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir, dir_lock);
 
 	atomic_inc(&inode->i_count);
 	d_instantiate(dentry, inode);
@@ -792,8 +792,8 @@ static int scoutfs_unlink(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 		drop_nlink(dir);
 		drop_nlink(inode);
 	}
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode);
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode, inode_lock);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir, dir_lock);
 
 out:
 	scoutfs_release_trans(sb);
@@ -1000,8 +1000,8 @@ static int scoutfs_symlink(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry,
 	inode->i_ctime = dir->i_mtime;
 	i_size_write(inode, name_len);
 
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode);
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode, inode_lock);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(dir, dir_lock);
 
 	insert_inode_hash(inode);
 	/* XXX need to set i_op/fop before here for sec callbacks */
@@ -1477,12 +1477,12 @@ static int scoutfs_rename(struct inode *old_dir, struct dentry *old_dentry,
 	if (new_inode)
 		old_inode->i_ctime = now;
 
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(old_dir);
-	scoutfs_update_inode_item(old_inode);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(old_dir, old_dir_lock);
+	scoutfs_update_inode_item(old_inode, old_inode_lock);
 	if (new_dir != old_dir)
-		scoutfs_update_inode_item(new_dir);
+		scoutfs_update_inode_item(new_dir, new_dir_lock);
 	if (new_inode)
-		scoutfs_update_inode_item(new_inode);
+		scoutfs_update_inode_item(new_inode, new_inode_lock);
 
 	ret = 0;
 out:
diff --git a/kmod/src/inode.c b/kmod/src/inode.c
index e4149787..4b144faa 100644
--- a/kmod/src/inode.c
+++ b/kmod/src/inode.c
@@ -596,7 +596,7 @@ static int update_index(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_inode_info *si,
  * have to deal with errors and unwinding after they've modified the
  * vfs inode and get here.
  */
-void scoutfs_update_inode_item(struct inode *inode)
+void scoutfs_update_inode_item(struct inode *inode, struct scoutfs_lock *lock)
 {
 	struct scoutfs_inode_info *si = SCOUTFS_I(inode);
 	struct super_block *sb = inode->i_sb;
@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@ void scoutfs_update_inode_item(struct inode *inode)
 	scoutfs_inode_init_key(&key, &ikey, ino);
 	scoutfs_kvec_init(val, &sinode, sizeof(sinode));
 
-	err = scoutfs_item_update(sb, &key, val, NULL);
+	err = scoutfs_item_update(sb, &key, val, lock->end);
 	if (err) {
 		scoutfs_err(sb, "inode %llu update err %d", ino, err);
 		BUG_ON(err);
diff --git a/kmod/src/inode.h b/kmod/src/inode.h
index 15175dd4..f590fdfb 100644
--- a/kmod/src/inode.h
+++ b/kmod/src/inode.h
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ int scoutfs_orphan_inode(struct inode *inode);
 struct inode *scoutfs_iget(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino);
 struct inode *scoutfs_ilookup(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino);
 int scoutfs_dirty_inode_item(struct inode *inode, struct scoutfs_lock *lock);
-void scoutfs_update_inode_item(struct inode *inode);
+void scoutfs_update_inode_item(struct inode *inode, struct scoutfs_lock *lock);
 void scoutfs_inode_fill_pool(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino, u64 nr);
 int scoutfs_alloc_ino(struct super_block *sb, u64 *ino);
 struct inode *scoutfs_new_inode(struct super_block *sb, struct inode *dir,
diff --git a/kmod/src/xattr.c b/kmod/src/xattr.c
index e9ff58e1..fc97691f 100644
--- a/kmod/src/xattr.c
+++ b/kmod/src/xattr.c
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ static int scoutfs_xattr_set(struct dentry *dentry, const char *name,
 		/* XXX do these want i_mutex or anything? */
 		inode_inc_iversion(inode);
 		inode->i_ctime = CURRENT_TIME;
-		scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode);
+		scoutfs_update_inode_item(inode, lck);
 	}
 
 	up_write(&si->xattr_rwsem);