diff --git a/tsdb/head.go b/tsdb/head.go
index 3b1d4ad05..a21f5ad31 100644
--- a/tsdb/head.go
+++ b/tsdb/head.go
@@ -1692,8 +1692,6 @@ func (h *Head) getOrCreateWithID(id, hash uint64, lset labels.Labels) (*memSerie
 	h.metrics.seriesCreated.Inc()
 	atomic.AddUint64(&h.numSeries, 1)
 
-	h.postings.Add(id, lset)
-
 	h.symMtx.Lock()
 	defer h.symMtx.Unlock()
 
@@ -1709,6 +1707,10 @@ func (h *Head) getOrCreateWithID(id, hash uint64, lset labels.Labels) (*memSerie
 		h.symbols[l.Value] = struct{}{}
 	}
 
+	// Postings should be set after setting the symbols (or after holding
+	// the symbol mtx) to avoid race during compaction of seeing partial symbols.
+	h.postings.Add(id, lset)
+
 	return s, true, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/tsdb/head_test.go b/tsdb/head_test.go
index 6c5e46658..c2523c396 100644
--- a/tsdb/head_test.go
+++ b/tsdb/head_test.go
@@ -1875,3 +1875,70 @@ func TestHeadLabelNamesValuesWithMinMaxRange(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestHeadCompactionRace(t *testing.T) {
+	// There are still some races to be fixed. Hence skipping this test
+	// for now to not cause flaky CI failures.
+	t.Skip()
+
+	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("run %d", i), func(t *testing.T) {
+			tsdbCfg := &Options{
+				RetentionDuration: 100000000,
+				NoLockfile:        true,
+				MinBlockDuration:  1000000,
+				MaxBlockDuration:  1000000,
+			}
+
+			db, closer := openTestDB(t, tsdbCfg, []int64{1000000})
+			t.Cleanup(closer)
+			t.Cleanup(func() {
+				testutil.Ok(t, db.Close())
+			})
+
+			head := db.Head()
+
+			// Get past the init appender phase here.
+			app := head.Appender()
+			_, err := app.Add(labels.Labels{labels.Label{Name: "n", Value: "v"}}, 10, 10)
+			testutil.Ok(t, err)
+			testutil.Ok(t, app.Commit())
+
+			wait := make(chan struct{})
+			var wg sync.WaitGroup
+
+			// Prepare to execute concurrent appends.
+			wg.Add(100)
+			for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+				go func(idx int) {
+					defer wg.Done()
+					app := head.Appender()
+					<-wait
+
+					for j := 0; j < 100; j++ {
+						// After compaction this will return out of bound, so this is a best effort append.
+						app.Add(labels.Labels{labels.Label{
+							Name:  fmt.Sprintf("n%d", idx*100+j),
+							Value: fmt.Sprintf("v%d", idx*100+j),
+						}}, 1000, 10)
+					}
+
+					testutil.Ok(t, app.Commit())
+				}(i)
+			}
+
+			// Prepare for head compaction.
+			wg.Add(1)
+			go func() {
+				defer wg.Done()
+				<-wait
+				testutil.Ok(t, db.CompactHead(NewRangeHead(head, 0, 10000000)))
+			}()
+
+			// Run concurrent appends and compaction.
+			close(wait)
+
+			wg.Wait()
+		})
+	}
+}