diff --git a/Kernel/Ext2FileSystem.cpp b/Kernel/Ext2FileSystem.cpp
index fe7b0af13e..cac3049d01 100644
--- a/Kernel/Ext2FileSystem.cpp
+++ b/Kernel/Ext2FileSystem.cpp
@@ -1324,8 +1324,8 @@ void Ext2FS::uncache_inode(InodeIndex index)
 size_t Ext2FSInode::directory_entry_count() const
 {
     ASSERT(is_directory());
-    populate_lookup_cache();
     LOCKER(m_lock);
+    populate_lookup_cache();
     return m_lookup_cache.size();
 }