diff --git a/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c b/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c
index 8e7deb0..f3d47d8 100644
--- a/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c
@@ -981,7 +981,8 @@
 				strlen(PRIVROOT_NAME));
 	if (!IS_ERR(dentry)) {
 		REISERFS_SB(s)->priv_root = dentry;
-		s->s_root->d_op = &xattr_lookup_poison_ops;
+		if (!reiserfs_expose_privroot(s))
+			s->s_root->d_op = &xattr_lookup_poison_ops;
 		if (dentry->d_inode)
 			dentry->d_inode->i_flags |= S_PRIVATE;
 	} else