diff --git a/fs/fat/namei_vfat.c b/fs/fat/namei_vfat.c
index bb3f29c..a87a656 100644
--- a/fs/fat/namei_vfat.c
+++ b/fs/fat/namei_vfat.c
@@ -900,7 +900,7 @@
 		goto out;
 	}
 	inode->i_version++;
-	inode->i_nlink = 2;
+	set_nlink(inode, 2);
 	inode->i_mtime = inode->i_atime = inode->i_ctime = ts;
 	/* timestamp is already written, so mark_inode_dirty() is unneeded. */