diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/common.c b/fs/xfs/scrub/common.c
index 3ba3295..de24532 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/common.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/common.c
@@ -1232,38 +1232,153 @@ xchk_fsgates_enable(
 }
 
 /*
- * Decide if this is this a cached inode that's also allocated.
+ * Decide if this is this a cached inode that's also allocated.  The caller
+ * must hold a reference to an AG and the AGI buffer lock to prevent inodes
+ * from being allocated or freed.
  *
- * Look up an inode by number in the given file system.  If the inode is
- * in cache and isn't in purgatory, return 1 if the inode is allocated
- * and 0 if it is not.  For all other cases (not in cache, being torn
- * down, etc.), return a negative error code.
+ * Look up an inode by number in the given file system.  If the inode number
+ * is invalid, return -EINVAL.  If the inode is not in cache, return -ENODATA.
+ * If the inode is being reclaimed, return -ENODATA because we know the inode
+ * cache cannot be updating the ondisk metadata.
  *
- * The caller has to prevent inode allocation and freeing activity,
- * presumably by locking the AGI buffer.   This is to ensure that an
- * inode cannot transition from allocated to freed until the caller is
- * ready to allow that.  If the inode is in an intermediate state (new,
- * reclaimable, or being reclaimed), -EAGAIN will be returned; if the
- * inode is not in the cache, -ENOENT will be returned.  The caller must
- * deal with these scenarios appropriately.
- *
- * This is a specialized use case for the online scrubber; if you're
- * reading this, you probably want xfs_iget.
+ * Otherwise, the incore inode is the one we want, and it is either live,
+ * somewhere in the inactivation machinery, or reclaimable.  The inode is
+ * allocated if i_mode is nonzero.  In all three cases, the cached inode will
+ * be more up to date than the ondisk inode buffer, so we must use the incore
+ * i_mode.
  */
 int
 xchk_inode_is_allocated(
 	struct xfs_scrub	*sc,
-	xfs_ino_t		ino,
+	xfs_agino_t		agino,
 	bool			*inuse)
 {
+	struct xfs_mount	*mp = sc->mp;
+	struct xfs_perag	*pag = sc->sa.pag;
+	xfs_ino_t		ino;
 	struct xfs_inode	*ip;
 	int			error;
 
-	error = xfs_iget(sc->mp, sc->tp, ino, XFS_IGET_INCORE, 0, &ip);
-	if (error)
-		return error;
+	/* caller must hold perag reference */
+	if (pag == NULL) {
+		ASSERT(pag != NULL);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
-	*inuse = !!(VFS_I(ip)->i_mode);
-	xfs_irele(ip);
-	return 0;
+	/* caller must have AGI buffer */
+	if (sc->sa.agi_bp == NULL) {
+		ASSERT(sc->sa.agi_bp != NULL);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	/* reject inode numbers outside existing AGs */
+	ino = XFS_AGINO_TO_INO(sc->mp, pag->pag_agno, agino);
+	if (!xfs_verify_ino(mp, ino))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	error = -ENODATA;
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	ip = radix_tree_lookup(&pag->pag_ici_root, agino);
+	if (!ip) {
+		/* cache miss */
+		goto out_rcu;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * If the inode number doesn't match, the incore inode got reused
+	 * during an RCU grace period and the radix tree hasn't been updated.
+	 * This isn't the inode we want.
+	 */
+	spin_lock(&ip->i_flags_lock);
+	if (ip->i_ino != ino)
+		goto out_skip;
+
+	trace_xchk_inode_is_allocated(ip);
+
+	/*
+	 * We have an incore inode that matches the inode we want, and the
+	 * caller holds the perag structure and the AGI buffer.  Let's check
+	 * our assumptions below:
+	 */
+
+#ifdef DEBUG
+	/*
+	 * (1) If the incore inode is live (i.e. referenced from the dcache),
+	 * it will not be INEW, nor will it be in the inactivation or reclaim
+	 * machinery.  The ondisk inode had better be allocated.  This is the
+	 * most trivial case.
+	 */
+	if (!(ip->i_flags & (XFS_NEED_INACTIVE | XFS_INEW | XFS_IRECLAIMABLE |
+			     XFS_INACTIVATING))) {
+		/* live inode */
+		ASSERT(VFS_I(ip)->i_mode != 0);
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * If the incore inode is INEW, there are several possibilities:
+	 *
+	 * (2) For a file that is being created, note that we allocate the
+	 * ondisk inode before allocating, initializing, and adding the incore
+	 * inode to the radix tree.
+	 *
+	 * (3) If the incore inode is being recycled, the inode has to be
+	 * allocated because we don't allow freed inodes to be recycled.
+	 * Recycling doesn't touch i_mode.
+	 */
+	if (ip->i_flags & XFS_INEW) {
+		/* created on disk already or recycling */
+		ASSERT(VFS_I(ip)->i_mode != 0);
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * (4) If the inode is queued for inactivation (NEED_INACTIVE) but
+	 * inactivation has not started (!INACTIVATING), it is still allocated.
+	 */
+	if ((ip->i_flags & XFS_NEED_INACTIVE) &&
+	    !(ip->i_flags & XFS_INACTIVATING)) {
+		/* definitely before difree */
+		ASSERT(VFS_I(ip)->i_mode != 0);
+	}
+#endif
+
+	/*
+	 * If the incore inode is undergoing inactivation (INACTIVATING), there
+	 * are two possibilities:
+	 *
+	 * (5) It is before the point where it would get freed ondisk, in which
+	 * case i_mode is still nonzero.
+	 *
+	 * (6) It has already been freed, in which case i_mode is zero.
+	 *
+	 * We don't take the ILOCK here, but difree and dialloc update the AGI,
+	 * and we've taken the AGI buffer lock, which prevents that from
+	 * happening.
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * (7) Inodes undergoing inactivation (INACTIVATING) or queued for
+	 * reclaim (IRECLAIMABLE) could be allocated or free.  i_mode still
+	 * reflects the ondisk state.
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * (8) If the inode is in IFLUSHING, it's safe to query i_mode because
+	 * the flush code uses i_mode to format the ondisk inode.
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * (9) If the inode is in IRECLAIM and was reachable via the radix
+	 * tree, it still has the same i_mode as it did before it entered
+	 * reclaim.  The inode object is still alive because we hold the RCU
+	 * read lock.
+	 */
+
+	*inuse = VFS_I(ip)->i_mode != 0;
+	error = 0;
+
+out_skip:
+	spin_unlock(&ip->i_flags_lock);
+out_rcu:
+	rcu_read_unlock();
+	return error;
 }
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h b/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h
index a2d2e07..cabdc0e 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/common.h
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ static inline bool xchk_need_intent_drain(struct xfs_scrub *sc)
 
 void xchk_fsgates_enable(struct xfs_scrub *sc, unsigned int scrub_fshooks);
 
-int xchk_inode_is_allocated(struct xfs_scrub *sc, xfs_ino_t ino, bool *inuse);
+int xchk_inode_is_allocated(struct xfs_scrub *sc, xfs_agino_t agino,
+		bool *inuse);
 
 #endif	/* __XFS_SCRUB_COMMON_H__ */
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/ialloc.c b/fs/xfs/scrub/ialloc.c
index 3a3d750..fb7bbf4 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/ialloc.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/ialloc.c
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ xchk_iallocbt_check_cluster_ifree(
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	error = xchk_inode_is_allocated(bs->sc, fsino, &ino_inuse);
+	error = xchk_inode_is_allocated(bs->sc, agino, &ino_inuse);
 	if (error == -ENODATA) {
 		/* Not cached, just read the disk buffer */
 		freemask_ok = irec_free ^ !!(dip->di_mode);
diff --git a/fs/xfs/scrub/trace.h b/fs/xfs/scrub/trace.h
index 535035e..cbd4d01 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/scrub/trace.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/scrub/trace.h
@@ -641,6 +641,28 @@ TRACE_EVENT(xchk_iallocbt_check_cluster,
 		  __entry->cluster_ino)
 )
 
+TRACE_EVENT(xchk_inode_is_allocated,
+	TP_PROTO(struct xfs_inode *ip),
+	TP_ARGS(ip),
+	TP_STRUCT__entry(
+		__field(dev_t, dev)
+		__field(xfs_ino_t, ino)
+		__field(unsigned long, iflags)
+		__field(umode_t, mode)
+	),
+	TP_fast_assign(
+		__entry->dev = VFS_I(ip)->i_sb->s_dev;
+		__entry->ino = ip->i_ino;
+		__entry->iflags = ip->i_flags;
+		__entry->mode = VFS_I(ip)->i_mode;
+	),
+	TP_printk("dev %d:%d ino 0x%llx iflags 0x%lx mode 0x%x",
+		  MAJOR(__entry->dev), MINOR(__entry->dev),
+		  __entry->ino,
+		  __entry->iflags,
+		  __entry->mode)
+);
+
 TRACE_EVENT(xchk_fscounters_calc,
 	TP_PROTO(struct xfs_mount *mp, uint64_t icount, uint64_t ifree,
 		 uint64_t fdblocks, uint64_t delalloc),