diff --git a/net/core/neighbour.c b/net/core/neighbour.c
index c52df858d0be..cd3af59b38a1 100644
--- a/net/core/neighbour.c
+++ b/net/core/neighbour.c
@@ -481,6 +481,8 @@ struct pneigh_entry * pneigh_lookup(struct neigh_table *tbl, const void *pkey,
 	if (!creat)
 		goto out;
 
+	ASSERT_RTNL();
+
 	n = kmalloc(sizeof(*n) + key_len, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!n)
 		goto out;