diff --git a/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c b/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c
index c7190f322576..57a46093656a 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c
@@ -2808,6 +2808,12 @@ int btrfs_sync_log(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	root->log_transid++;
 	log->log_transid = root->log_transid;
 	root->log_start_pid = 0;
+	/*
+	 * Update or create log root item under the root's log_mutex to prevent
+	 * races with concurrent log syncs that can lead to failure to update
+	 * log root item because it was not created yet.
+	 */
+	ret = update_log_root(trans, log);
 	/*
 	 * IO has been started, blocks of the log tree have WRITTEN flag set
 	 * in their headers. new modifications of the log will be written to
@@ -2827,8 +2833,6 @@ int btrfs_sync_log(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 
 	mutex_unlock(&log_root_tree->log_mutex);
 
-	ret = update_log_root(trans, log);
-
 	mutex_lock(&log_root_tree->log_mutex);
 	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&log_root_tree->log_writers)) {
 		/*