diff --git a/fs/fs_struct.c b/fs/fs_struct.c
index f44e43ce6d93..2a98cfbedd32 100644
--- a/fs/fs_struct.c
+++ b/fs/fs_struct.c
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ void chroot_fs_refs(const struct path *old_root, const struct path *new_root)
 
 	read_lock(&tasklist_lock);
 	for_each_process_thread(g, p) {
+		/* leave kthreads alone */
+		if (p->flags & PF_KTHREAD)
+			continue;
+
 		task_lock(p);
 		fs = p->real_fs;
 		if (fs) {