diff --git a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.c b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.c
index 214976ecefd7..5795445ef4bd 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.c
@@ -233,6 +233,31 @@ xfs_inode_inherit_flags2(
 	}
 }
 
+/*
+ * If we need to create attributes immediately after allocating the inode,
+ * initialise an empty attribute fork right now. We use the default fork offset
+ * for attributes here as we don't know exactly what size or how many
+ * attributes we might be adding. We can do this safely here because we know
+ * the data fork is completely empty and this saves us from needing to run a
+ * separate transaction to set the fork offset in the immediate future.
+ *
+ * If we have parent pointers and the caller hasn't told us that the file will
+ * never be linked into a directory tree, we /must/ create the attr fork.
+ */
+static inline bool
+xfs_icreate_want_attrfork(
+	struct xfs_mount		*mp,
+	const struct xfs_icreate_args	*args)
+{
+	if (args->flags & XFS_ICREATE_INIT_XATTRS)
+		return true;
+
+	if (!(args->flags & XFS_ICREATE_UNLINKABLE) && xfs_has_parent(mp))
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 /* Initialise an inode's attributes. */
 void
 xfs_inode_init(
@@ -325,16 +350,7 @@ xfs_inode_init(
 		ASSERT(0);
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * If we need to create attributes immediately after allocating the
-	 * inode, initialise an empty attribute fork right now. We use the
-	 * default fork offset for attributes here as we don't know exactly what
-	 * size or how many attributes we might be adding. We can do this
-	 * safely here because we know the data fork is completely empty and
-	 * this saves us from needing to run a separate transaction to set the
-	 * fork offset in the immediate future.
-	 */
-	if (args->flags & XFS_ICREATE_INIT_XATTRS) {
+	if (xfs_icreate_want_attrfork(mp, args)) {
 		ip->i_forkoff = xfs_default_attroffset(ip) >> 3;
 		xfs_ifork_init_attr(ip, XFS_DINODE_FMT_EXTENTS, 0);
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.h b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.h
index 50c14ba6ca5a..1c54c3b0cf26 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_inode_util.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ struct xfs_icreate_args {
 
 #define XFS_ICREATE_TMPFILE	(1U << 0)  /* create an unlinked file */
 #define XFS_ICREATE_INIT_XATTRS	(1U << 1)  /* will set xattrs immediately */
+#define XFS_ICREATE_UNLINKABLE	(1U << 2)  /* cannot link into dir tree */
 	uint16_t		flags;
 };
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/tempfile.c b/fs/xfs/scrub/tempfile.c
index 523971a15a72..d390d56cd875 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/tempfile.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/tempfile.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ xrep_tempfile_create(
 	struct xfs_icreate_args	args = {
 		.pip		= sc->mp->m_rootip,
 		.mode		= mode,
-		.flags		= XFS_ICREATE_TMPFILE,
+		.flags		= XFS_ICREATE_TMPFILE | XFS_ICREATE_UNLINKABLE,
 	};
 	struct xfs_mount	*mp = sc->mp;
 	struct xfs_trans	*tp = NULL;
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
index 004f277e5891..0062ba92bcc8 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
@@ -2527,9 +2527,6 @@ xfs_rename_alloc_whiteout(
 	struct qstr		name;
 	int			error;
 
-	if (xfs_has_parent(dp->i_mount))
-		args.flags |= XFS_ICREATE_INIT_XATTRS;
-
 	error = xfs_create_tmpfile(&args, &tmpfile);
 	if (error)
 		return error;
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_iops.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_iops.c
index 4563ba440570..07f736c42460 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_iops.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_iops.c
@@ -158,8 +158,6 @@ xfs_create_need_xattr(
 	if (dir->i_sb->s_security)
 		return true;
 #endif
-	if (xfs_has_parent(XFS_I(dir)->i_mount))
-		return true;
 	return false;
 }
 
@@ -215,12 +213,11 @@ xfs_generic_create(
 		args.flags |= XFS_ICREATE_TMPFILE;
 
 		/*
-		 * If this temporary file will be linkable, set up the file
-		 * with an attr fork to receive a parent pointer.
+		 * If this temporary file will not be linkable, don't bother
+		 * creating an attr fork to receive a parent pointer.
 		 */
-		if (!(tmpfile->f_flags & O_EXCL) &&
-		    xfs_has_parent(XFS_I(dir)->i_mount))
-			args.flags |= XFS_ICREATE_INIT_XATTRS;
+		if (tmpfile->f_flags & O_EXCL)
+			args.flags |= XFS_ICREATE_UNLINKABLE;
 
 		error = xfs_create_tmpfile(&args, &ip);
 	}
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_qm.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_qm.c
index 78f839630c62..9490b913a4ab 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_qm.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_qm.c
@@ -795,6 +795,7 @@ xfs_qm_qino_alloc(
 	if (need_alloc) {
 		struct xfs_icreate_args	args = {
 			.mode		= S_IFREG,
+			.flags		= XFS_ICREATE_UNLINKABLE,
 		};
 		xfs_ino_t	ino;
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_symlink.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_symlink.c
index 6ff736e5c4e7..e471369f6b63 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_symlink.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_symlink.c
@@ -115,9 +115,6 @@ xfs_symlink(
 	if (xfs_is_shutdown(mp))
 		return -EIO;
 
-	if (xfs_has_parent(mp))
-		args.flags |= XFS_ICREATE_INIT_XATTRS;
-
 	/*
 	 * Check component lengths of the target path name.
 	 */