diff --git a/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c b/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c
index 30b181b8c..bdfe057cc 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c
@@ -3277,13 +3277,8 @@ static bool do_lxcapi_set_cgroup_item(struct lxc_container *c, const char *subsy
 	if (!cgroup_ops)
 		return false;
 
-	if (container_disk_lock(c))
-		return false;
-
 	ret = cgroup_ops->set(cgroup_ops, subsys, value, c->name, c->config_path);
 
-	container_disk_unlock(c);
-
 	cgroup_exit(cgroup_ops);
 
 	return ret == 0;
@@ -3306,14 +3301,9 @@ static int do_lxcapi_get_cgroup_item(struct lxc_container *c, const char *subsys
 	if (!cgroup_ops)
 		return -1;
 
-	if (container_disk_lock(c))
-		return -1;
-
 	ret = cgroup_ops->get(cgroup_ops, subsys, retv, inlen, c->name,
 			      c->config_path);
 
-	container_disk_unlock(c);
-
 	cgroup_exit(cgroup_ops);
 
 	return ret;