diff --git a/lib/rhashtable.c b/lib/rhashtable.c
index 2aa41c15df17..52ec83212856 100644
--- a/lib/rhashtable.c
+++ b/lib/rhashtable.c
@@ -297,21 +297,14 @@ static int rhashtable_rehash_attach(struct rhashtable *ht,
 				    struct bucket_table *old_tbl,
 				    struct bucket_table *new_tbl)
 {
-	/* Protect future_tbl using the first bucket lock. */
-	spin_lock_bh(old_tbl->locks);
-
-	/* Did somebody beat us to it? */
-	if (rcu_access_pointer(old_tbl->future_tbl)) {
-		spin_unlock_bh(old_tbl->locks);
-		return -EEXIST;
-	}
-
 	/* Make insertions go into the new, empty table right away. Deletions
 	 * and lookups will be attempted in both tables until we synchronize.
+	 * As cmpxchg() provides strong barriers, we do not need
+	 * rcu_assign_pointer().
 	 */
-	rcu_assign_pointer(old_tbl->future_tbl, new_tbl);
 
-	spin_unlock_bh(old_tbl->locks);
+	if (cmpxchg(&old_tbl->future_tbl, NULL, new_tbl) != NULL)
+		return -EEXIST;
 
 	return 0;
 }