diff --git a/fs/ext3/namei.c b/fs/ext3/namei.c
index 8a60e33..642dc6d 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/namei.c
@@ -1821,7 +1821,7 @@
 	de->name_len = 2;
 	strcpy (de->name, "..");
 	ext3_set_de_type(dir->i_sb, de, S_IFDIR);
-	inode->i_nlink = 2;
+	set_nlink(inode, 2);
 	BUFFER_TRACE(dir_block, "call ext3_journal_dirty_metadata");
 	err = ext3_journal_dirty_metadata(handle, dir_block);
 	if (err)
@@ -2170,7 +2170,7 @@
 		ext3_warning (inode->i_sb, "ext3_unlink",
 			      "Deleting nonexistent file (%lu), %d",
 			      inode->i_ino, inode->i_nlink);
-		inode->i_nlink = 1;
+		set_nlink(inode, 1);
 	}
 	retval = ext3_delete_entry(handle, dir, de, bh);
 	if (retval)