diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
index 326b94d..001aa89 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
@@ -2404,6 +2404,33 @@
 		__xfs_iunpin_wait(ip);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Removing an inode from the namespace involves removing the directory entry
+ * and dropping the link count on the inode. Removing the directory entry can
+ * result in locking an AGF (directory blocks were freed) and removing a link
+ * count can result in placing the inode on an unlinked list which results in
+ * locking an AGI.
+ *
+ * The big problem here is that we have an ordering constraint on AGF and AGI
+ * locking - inode allocation locks the AGI, then can allocate a new extent for
+ * new inodes, locking the AGF after the AGI. Similarly, freeing the inode
+ * removes the inode from the unlinked list, requiring that we lock the AGI
+ * first, and then freeing the inode can result in an inode chunk being freed
+ * and hence freeing disk space requiring that we lock an AGF.
+ *
+ * Hence the ordering that is imposed by other parts of the code is AGI before
+ * AGF. This means we cannot remove the directory entry before we drop the inode
+ * reference count and put it on the unlinked list as this results in a lock
+ * order of AGF then AGI, and this can deadlock against inode allocation and
+ * freeing. Therefore we must drop the link counts before we remove the
+ * directory entry.
+ *
+ * This is still safe from a transactional point of view - it is not until we
+ * get to xfs_bmap_finish() that we have the possibility of multiple
+ * transactions in this operation. Hence as long as we remove the directory
+ * entry and drop the link count in the first transaction of the remove
+ * operation, there are no transactional constraints on the ordering here.
+ */
 int
 xfs_remove(
 	xfs_inode_t             *dp,
@@ -2473,6 +2500,7 @@
 	/*
 	 * If we're removing a directory perform some additional validation.
 	 */
+	cancel_flags |= XFS_TRANS_ABORT;
 	if (is_dir) {
 		ASSERT(ip->i_d.di_nlink >= 2);
 		if (ip->i_d.di_nlink != 2) {
@@ -2483,31 +2511,16 @@
 			error = XFS_ERROR(ENOTEMPTY);
 			goto out_trans_cancel;
 		}
-	}
 
-	xfs_bmap_init(&free_list, &first_block);
-	error = xfs_dir_removename(tp, dp, name, ip->i_ino,
-					&first_block, &free_list, resblks);
-	if (error) {
-		ASSERT(error != ENOENT);
-		goto out_bmap_cancel;
-	}
-	xfs_trans_ichgtime(tp, dp, XFS_ICHGTIME_MOD | XFS_ICHGTIME_CHG);
-
-	if (is_dir) {
-		/*
-		 * Drop the link from ip's "..".
-		 */
+		/* Drop the link from ip's "..".  */
 		error = xfs_droplink(tp, dp);
 		if (error)
-			goto out_bmap_cancel;
+			goto out_trans_cancel;
 
-		/*
-		 * Drop the "." link from ip to self.
-		 */
+		/* Drop the "." link from ip to self.  */
 		error = xfs_droplink(tp, ip);
 		if (error)
-			goto out_bmap_cancel;
+			goto out_trans_cancel;
 	} else {
 		/*
 		 * When removing a non-directory we need to log the parent
@@ -2516,20 +2529,24 @@
 		 */
 		xfs_trans_log_inode(tp, dp, XFS_ILOG_CORE);
 	}
+	xfs_trans_ichgtime(tp, dp, XFS_ICHGTIME_MOD | XFS_ICHGTIME_CHG);
 
-	/*
-	 * Drop the link from dp to ip.
-	 */
+	/* Drop the link from dp to ip. */
 	error = xfs_droplink(tp, ip);
 	if (error)
-		goto out_bmap_cancel;
+		goto out_trans_cancel;
 
-	/*
-	 * Determine if this is the last link while
-	 * we are in the transaction.
-	 */
+	/* Determine if this is the last link while the inode is locked */
 	link_zero = (ip->i_d.di_nlink == 0);
 
+	xfs_bmap_init(&free_list, &first_block);
+	error = xfs_dir_removename(tp, dp, name, ip->i_ino,
+					&first_block, &free_list, resblks);
+	if (error) {
+		ASSERT(error != ENOENT);
+		goto out_bmap_cancel;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * If this is a synchronous mount, make sure that the
 	 * remove transaction goes to disk before returning to
@@ -2559,7 +2576,6 @@
 
  out_bmap_cancel:
 	xfs_bmap_cancel(&free_list);
-	cancel_flags |= XFS_TRANS_ABORT;
  out_trans_cancel:
 	xfs_trans_cancel(tp, cancel_flags);
  std_return: