diff --git a/fs/hfs/bfind.c b/fs/hfs/bfind.c
index 4af318fbda77..ef9498a6e88a 100644
--- a/fs/hfs/bfind.c
+++ b/fs/hfs/bfind.c
@@ -25,7 +25,19 @@ int hfs_find_init(struct hfs_btree *tree, struct hfs_find_data *fd)
 	fd->key = ptr + tree->max_key_len + 2;
 	hfs_dbg(BNODE_REFS, "find_init: %d (%p)\n",
 		tree->cnid, __builtin_return_address(0));
-	mutex_lock(&tree->tree_lock);
+	switch (tree->cnid) {
+	case HFS_CAT_CNID:
+		mutex_lock_nested(&tree->tree_lock, CATALOG_BTREE_MUTEX);
+		break;
+	case HFS_EXT_CNID:
+		mutex_lock_nested(&tree->tree_lock, EXTENTS_BTREE_MUTEX);
+		break;
+	case HFS_ATTR_CNID:
+		mutex_lock_nested(&tree->tree_lock, ATTR_BTREE_MUTEX);
+		break;
+	default:
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/fs/hfs/btree.h b/fs/hfs/btree.h
index 4ba45caf5939..0e6baee93245 100644
--- a/fs/hfs/btree.h
+++ b/fs/hfs/btree.h
@@ -13,6 +13,13 @@ typedef int (*btree_keycmp)(const btree_key *, const btree_key *);
 
 #define NODE_HASH_SIZE  256
 
+/* B-tree mutex nested subclasses */
+enum hfs_btree_mutex_classes {
+	CATALOG_BTREE_MUTEX,
+	EXTENTS_BTREE_MUTEX,
+	ATTR_BTREE_MUTEX,
+};
+
 /* A HFS BTree held in memory */
 struct hfs_btree {
 	struct super_block *sb;