diff --git a/fs/io_uring.c b/fs/io_uring.c
index 7086a8f010cac9d0a083f971d713c6197f4cb8e7..8db282a4f64e5961399b54347dfe1bb6c31f8ce6 100644
--- a/fs/io_uring.c
+++ b/fs/io_uring.c
@@ -4250,7 +4250,6 @@ static int io_close_prep(struct io_kiocb *req, const struct io_uring_sqe *sqe)
 	 * io_wq_work.flags, so initialize io_wq_work firstly.
 	 */
 	io_req_init_async(req);
-	req->work.flags |= IO_WQ_WORK_NO_CANCEL;
 
 	if (unlikely(req->ctx->flags & (IORING_SETUP_IOPOLL|IORING_SETUP_SQPOLL)))
 		return -EINVAL;
@@ -4283,6 +4282,8 @@ static int io_close(struct io_kiocb *req, bool force_nonblock,
 
 	/* if the file has a flush method, be safe and punt to async */
 	if (close->put_file->f_op->flush && force_nonblock) {
+		/* not safe to cancel at this point */
+		req->work.flags |= IO_WQ_WORK_NO_CANCEL;
 		/* was never set, but play safe */
 		req->flags &= ~REQ_F_NOWAIT;
 		/* avoid grabbing files - we don't need the files */