diff --git a/fs/ext4/super.c b/fs/ext4/super.c
index 687d406f47a92b..cd3328b0315349 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/super.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/super.c
@@ -735,11 +735,12 @@ static void ext4_handle_error(struct super_block *sb, bool force_ro, int error,
 
 	ext4_msg(sb, KERN_CRIT, "Remounting filesystem read-only");
 	/*
-	 * Make sure updated value of ->s_mount_flags will be visible before
-	 * ->s_flags update
+	 * EXT4_FLAGS_SHUTDOWN was set which stops all filesystem
+	 * modifications. We don't set SB_RDONLY because that requires
+	 * sb->s_umount semaphore and setting it without proper remount
+	 * procedure is confusing code such as freeze_super() leading to
+	 * deadlocks and other problems.
 	 */
-	smp_wmb();
-	sb->s_flags |= SB_RDONLY;
 }
 
 static void update_super_work(struct work_struct *work)