diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vhost.c b/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
index 9a9502a4aa5089519d338ca62b07a557069fb00d..69068e0d8f31af183c075afe3026d60b09a0b55e 100644
--- a/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
+++ b/drivers/vhost/vhost.c
@@ -161,9 +161,11 @@ void vhost_work_queue(struct vhost_dev *dev, struct vhost_work *work)
 	if (list_empty(&work->node)) {
 		list_add_tail(&work->node, &dev->work_list);
 		work->queue_seq++;
+		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&dev->work_lock, flags);
 		wake_up_process(dev->worker);
+	} else {
+		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&dev->work_lock, flags);
 	}
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&dev->work_lock, flags);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vhost_work_queue);