diff --git a/net/sched/sch_netem.c b/net/sched/sch_netem.c
index 1802f134aa40..69034c8cc3b8 100644
--- a/net/sched/sch_netem.c
+++ b/net/sched/sch_netem.c
@@ -969,6 +969,7 @@ static int netem_change(struct Qdisc *sch, struct nlattr *opt,
 	if (ret < 0)
 		return ret;
 
+	sch_tree_lock(sch);
 	/* backup q->clg and q->loss_model */
 	old_clg = q->clg;
 	old_loss_model = q->loss_model;
@@ -977,7 +978,7 @@ static int netem_change(struct Qdisc *sch, struct nlattr *opt,
 		ret = get_loss_clg(q, tb[TCA_NETEM_LOSS]);
 		if (ret) {
 			q->loss_model = old_loss_model;
-			return ret;
+			goto unlock;
 		}
 	} else {
 		q->loss_model = CLG_RANDOM;
@@ -1044,6 +1045,8 @@ static int netem_change(struct Qdisc *sch, struct nlattr *opt,
 	/* capping jitter to the range acceptable by tabledist() */
 	q->jitter = min_t(s64, abs(q->jitter), INT_MAX);
 
+unlock:
+	sch_tree_unlock(sch);
 	return ret;
 
 get_table_failure:
@@ -1053,7 +1056,8 @@ static int netem_change(struct Qdisc *sch, struct nlattr *opt,
 	 */
 	q->clg = old_clg;
 	q->loss_model = old_loss_model;
-	return ret;
+
+	goto unlock;
 }
 
 static int netem_init(struct Qdisc *sch, struct nlattr *opt,