diff --git a/kmod/src/item.c b/kmod/src/item.c
index 4c3ca192..a99202cf 100644
--- a/kmod/src/item.c
+++ b/kmod/src/item.c
@@ -1975,7 +1975,7 @@ int scoutfs_item_create(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key *key,
 			void *val, int val_len, struct scoutfs_lock *lock)
 {
 	return item_create(sb, key, val, val_len, lock, NULL,
-			   SCOUTFS_LOCK_READ, false);
+			   SCOUTFS_LOCK_WRITE, false);
 }
 
 int scoutfs_item_create_force(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key *key,