diff --git a/fs/dcache.c b/fs/dcache.c
index cb25a1a5e307..e7484f9c73b4 100644
--- a/fs/dcache.c
+++ b/fs/dcache.c
@@ -2810,6 +2810,9 @@ static int prepend(char **buffer, int *buflen, const char *str, int namelen)
  * the beginning of the name. The sequence number check at the caller will
  * retry it again when a d_move() does happen. So any garbage in the buffer
  * due to mismatched pointer and length will be discarded.
+ *
+ * Data dependency barrier is needed to make sure that we see that terminating
+ * NUL.  Alpha strikes again, film at 11...
  */
 static int prepend_name(char **buffer, int *buflen, struct qstr *name)
 {
@@ -2817,6 +2820,8 @@ static int prepend_name(char **buffer, int *buflen, struct qstr *name)
 	u32 dlen = ACCESS_ONCE(name->len);
 	char *p;
 
+	smp_read_barrier_depends();
+
 	*buflen -= dlen + 1;
 	if (*buflen < 0)
 		return -ENAMETOOLONG;