diff --git a/kmod/src/data.c b/kmod/src/data.c
index da146a2a..e42fd0eb 100644
--- a/kmod/src/data.c
+++ b/kmod/src/data.c
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ static int clear_segno_free(struct super_block *sb, u64 segno)
 		goto out;
 
 	if (bitmap_empty((long *)frb.bits, SCOUTFS_FREE_BITS_BITS))
-		ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock->end);
+		ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock);
 	else
 		ret = scoutfs_item_update(sb, &key, val, lock);
 	if (ret)
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@ static int clear_blkno_free(struct super_block *sb, u64 blkno)
 	}
 
 	if (bitmap_empty((long *)frb.bits, SCOUTFS_FREE_BITS_BITS))
-		ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock->end);
+		ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock);
 	else
 		ret = scoutfs_item_update(sb, &key, val, lock);
 out:
diff --git a/kmod/src/dir.c b/kmod/src/dir.c
index 502d75c6..ac5aebd4 100644
--- a/kmod/src/dir.c
+++ b/kmod/src/dir.c
@@ -904,7 +904,7 @@ static int symlink_item_ops(struct super_block *sb, int op, u64 ino,
 			ret = scoutfs_item_lookup_exact(sb, &key, val, bytes,
 							lock);
 		else if (op == SYM_DELETE)
-			ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock->end);
+			ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock);
 		if (ret)
 			break;
 
diff --git a/kmod/src/inode.c b/kmod/src/inode.c
index 57ad8287..5d10ef7f 100644
--- a/kmod/src/inode.c
+++ b/kmod/src/inode.c
@@ -654,9 +654,9 @@ static int update_index_items(struct super_block *sb,
 
 	del_lock = find_index_lock(lock_list, type, si->item_majors[type],
 				   si->item_minors[type], ino);
-	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &del, del_lock->end);
+	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &del, del_lock);
 	if (ret) {
-		err = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &ins, ins_lock->end);
+		err = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &ins, ins_lock);
 		BUG_ON(err);
 	}
 
@@ -1003,7 +1003,7 @@ static int remove_index(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino, u8 type, u64 major,
 	scoutfs_key_init(&key, &ikey, sizeof(ikey));
 
 	lock = find_index_lock(ind_locks, type, major, minor, ino);
-	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock->end);
+	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock);
 	if (ret == -ENOENT)
 		ret = 0;
 	return ret;
@@ -1218,7 +1218,7 @@ static int remove_orphan_item(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino)
 
 	init_orphan_key(&key, &okey, sbi->node_id, ino);
 
-	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock->end);
+	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock);
 	if (ret == -ENOENT)
 		ret = 0;
 
@@ -1301,7 +1301,7 @@ retry:
 		goto out;
 
 #endif
-	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock->end);
+	ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, &key, lock);
 	if (ret)
 		goto out;
 
diff --git a/kmod/src/item.c b/kmod/src/item.c
index f242aa88..2ace7963 100644
--- a/kmod/src/item.c
+++ b/kmod/src/item.c
@@ -1444,7 +1444,7 @@ out:
  * deletion items for items that didn't exist in the first place.
  */
 int scoutfs_item_delete(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key_buf *key,
-			struct scoutfs_key_buf *end)
+			struct scoutfs_lock *lock)
 {
 	struct scoutfs_sb_info *sbi = SCOUTFS_SB(sb);
 	struct item_cache *cac = sbi->item_cache;
@@ -1453,6 +1453,9 @@ int scoutfs_item_delete(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key_buf *key,
 	unsigned long flags;
 	int ret;
 
+	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(!lock_coverage(lock, key, WRITE)))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	scoutfs_kvec_init_null(del_val);
 
 	do {
@@ -1471,7 +1474,7 @@ int scoutfs_item_delete(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key_buf *key,
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cac->lock, flags);
 
 	} while (ret == -ENODATA &&
-		 (ret = scoutfs_manifest_read_items(sb, key, end)) == 0);
+		 (ret = scoutfs_manifest_read_items(sb, key, lock->end)) == 0);
 
 	scoutfs_kvec_kfree(del_val);
 
diff --git a/kmod/src/item.h b/kmod/src/item.h
index e442c313..6affdb81 100644
--- a/kmod/src/item.h
+++ b/kmod/src/item.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ void scoutfs_item_delete_dirty(struct super_block *sb,
 void scoutfs_item_update_dirty(struct super_block *sb,
 			       struct scoutfs_key_buf *key, struct kvec *val);
 int scoutfs_item_delete(struct super_block *sb, struct scoutfs_key_buf *key,
-			struct scoutfs_key_buf *end);
+			struct scoutfs_lock *lock);
 
 int scoutfs_item_add_batch(struct super_block *sb, struct list_head *list,
 			   struct scoutfs_key_buf *key, struct kvec *val);
diff --git a/kmod/src/xattr.c b/kmod/src/xattr.c
index 70b2584f..e26da49d 100644
--- a/kmod/src/xattr.c
+++ b/kmod/src/xattr.c
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ int scoutfs_xattr_drop(struct super_block *sb, u64 ino)
 			break;
 		}
 
-		ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, key, lck->end);
+		ret = scoutfs_item_delete(sb, key, lck);
 		if (ret)
 			break;