diff --git a/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_softdep.c b/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_softdep.c
index d06f5dee4341..122848dced7e 100644
--- a/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_softdep.c
+++ b/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_softdep.c
@@ -2997,10 +2997,13 @@ softdep_prealloc(vp, waitok)
 	    ("softdep_prealloc called on non-softdep filesystem"));
 	/*
 	 * Nothing to do if we are not running journaled soft updates.
-	 * If we currently hold the snapshot lock, we must avoid handling
-	 * other resources that could cause deadlock.
+	 * If we currently hold the snapshot lock, we must avoid
+	 * handling other resources that could cause deadlock.  Do not
+	 * touch quotas vnode since it is typically recursed with
+	 * other vnode locks held.
 	 */
-	if (DOINGSUJ(vp) == 0 || IS_SNAPSHOT(VTOI(vp)))
+	if (DOINGSUJ(vp) == 0 || IS_SNAPSHOT(VTOI(vp)) ||
+	    (vp->v_vflag & VV_SYSTEM) != 0)
 		return (0);
 	ump = VFSTOUFS(vp->v_mount);
 	ACQUIRE_LOCK(ump);