diff --git a/drivers/char/cyclades.c b/drivers/char/cyclades.c
index 39c61a71176e0f0eec82a7cb432dba91cd965fdb..cc7acf877dc0ff92c4b55b1d2314ac4f0461e306 100644
--- a/drivers/char/cyclades.c
+++ b/drivers/char/cyclades.c
@@ -1233,7 +1233,7 @@ cyy_interrupt(int irq, void *dev_id, struct pt_regs *regs)
                             }
                              info->idle_stats.recv_idle = jiffies;
                         }
-                        schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
+			tty_schedule_flip(tty);
                     }
                     /* end of service */
                     cy_writeb(base_addr+(CyRIR<<index), (save_xir & 0x3f));
@@ -1606,7 +1606,7 @@ cyz_handle_rx(struct cyclades_port *info,
 	    }
 #endif
 	    info->idle_stats.recv_idle = jiffies;
-	    schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
+	    tty_schedule_flip(tty);
 	}
 	/* Update rx_get */
 	cy_writel(&buf_ctrl->rx_get, new_rx_get);
@@ -1809,7 +1809,7 @@ cyz_handle_cmd(struct cyclades_card *cinfo)
 	if(delta_count)
 	    cy_sched_event(info, Cy_EVENT_DELTA_WAKEUP);
 	if(special_count)
-	    schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
+	    tty_schedule_flip(tty);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/char/esp.c b/drivers/char/esp.c
index 3f3ac039f4d9a43eb5146b30b4731019ce697ff6..57539d8f9f7c861770c21843fbe38b1b7097151f 100644
--- a/drivers/char/esp.c
+++ b/drivers/char/esp.c
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ static inline void receive_chars_pio(struct esp_struct *info, int num_bytes)
 		}
 	}
 
-	schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
+	tty_schedule_flip(tty);
 
 	info->stat_flags &= ~ESP_STAT_RX_TIMEOUT;
 	release_pio_buffer(pio_buf);
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ static inline void receive_chars_dma_done(struct esp_struct *info,
 			}
 			tty_insert_flip_char(tty, dma_buffer[num_bytes - 1], statflag);
 		}
-		schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
+		tty_schedule_flip(tty);
 	}
 
 	if (dma_bytes != num_bytes) {
diff --git a/drivers/char/tty_io.c b/drivers/char/tty_io.c
index eb8b5be4e2494c318e9f4af4195d8cd0b63cede7..076e07c1da38dc441592d8a98d83804d4ff8afea 100644
--- a/drivers/char/tty_io.c
+++ b/drivers/char/tty_io.c
@@ -253,6 +253,7 @@ static void tty_buffer_free_all(struct tty_struct *tty)
 
 static void tty_buffer_init(struct tty_struct *tty)
 {
+	spin_lock_init(&tty->buf.lock);
 	tty->buf.head = NULL;
 	tty->buf.tail = NULL;
 	tty->buf.free = NULL;
@@ -266,6 +267,7 @@ static struct tty_buffer *tty_buffer_alloc(size_t size)
 	p->used = 0;
 	p->size = size;
 	p->next = NULL;
+	p->active = 0;
 	p->char_buf_ptr = (char *)(p->data);
 	p->flag_buf_ptr = (unsigned char *)p->char_buf_ptr + size;
 /* 	printk("Flip create %p\n", p); */
@@ -312,25 +314,36 @@ static struct tty_buffer *tty_buffer_find(struct tty_struct *tty, size_t size)
 
 int tty_buffer_request_room(struct tty_struct *tty, size_t size)
 {
-	struct tty_buffer *b = tty->buf.tail, *n;
-	int left = 0;
+	struct tty_buffer *b, *n;
+	int left;
+	unsigned long flags;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
 
 	/* OPTIMISATION: We could keep a per tty "zero" sized buffer to
 	   remove this conditional if its worth it. This would be invisible
 	   to the callers */
-	if(b != NULL)
+	if ((b = tty->buf.tail) != NULL) {
 		left = b->size - b->used;
-	if(left >= size)
-		return size;
-	/* This is the slow path - looking for new buffers to use */
-	n = tty_buffer_find(tty, size);
-	if(n == NULL)
-		return left;
-	if(b != NULL)
-		b->next = n;
-	else
-		tty->buf.head = n;
-	tty->buf.tail = n;
+		b->active = 1;
+	} else
+		left = 0;
+
+	if (left < size) {
+		/* This is the slow path - looking for new buffers to use */
+		if ((n = tty_buffer_find(tty, size)) != NULL) {
+			if (b != NULL) {
+				b->next = n;
+				b->active = 0;
+			} else
+				tty->buf.head = n;
+			tty->buf.tail = n;
+			n->active = 1;
+		} else
+			size = left;
+	}
+
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
 	return size;
 }
 
@@ -396,10 +409,12 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(tty_insert_flip_string_flags);
 int tty_prepare_flip_string(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned char **chars, size_t size)
 {
 	int space = tty_buffer_request_room(tty, size);
-	struct tty_buffer *tb = tty->buf.tail;
-	*chars = tb->char_buf_ptr + tb->used;
-	memset(tb->flag_buf_ptr + tb->used, TTY_NORMAL, space);
-	tb->used += space;
+	if (likely(space)) {
+		struct tty_buffer *tb = tty->buf.tail;
+		*chars = tb->char_buf_ptr + tb->used;
+		memset(tb->flag_buf_ptr + tb->used, TTY_NORMAL, space);
+		tb->used += space;
+	}
 	return space;
 }
 
@@ -416,10 +431,12 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(tty_prepare_flip_string);
 int tty_prepare_flip_string_flags(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned char **chars, char **flags, size_t size)
 {
 	int space = tty_buffer_request_room(tty, size);
-	struct tty_buffer *tb = tty->buf.tail;
-	*chars = tb->char_buf_ptr + tb->used;
-	*flags = tb->flag_buf_ptr + tb->used;
-	tb->used += space;
+	if (likely(space)) {
+		struct tty_buffer *tb = tty->buf.tail;
+		*chars = tb->char_buf_ptr + tb->used;
+		*flags = tb->flag_buf_ptr + tb->used;
+		tb->used += space;
+	}
 	return space;
 }
 
@@ -2747,20 +2764,20 @@ static void flush_to_ldisc(void *private_)
 		schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
 		goto out;
 	}
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->read_lock, flags);
-	while((tbuf = tty->buf.head) != NULL) {
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
+	while((tbuf = tty->buf.head) != NULL && !tbuf->active) {
 		tty->buf.head = tbuf->next;
 		if (tty->buf.head == NULL)
 			tty->buf.tail = NULL;
-		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->read_lock, flags);
+		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
 		/* printk("Process buffer %p for %d\n", tbuf, tbuf->used); */
 		disc->receive_buf(tty, tbuf->char_buf_ptr,
 				       tbuf->flag_buf_ptr,
 				       tbuf->used);
-		spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->read_lock, flags);
+		spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
 		tty_buffer_free(tty, tbuf);
 	}
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->read_lock, flags);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
 out:
 	tty_ldisc_deref(disc);
 }
@@ -2852,6 +2869,12 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(tty_get_baud_rate);
 
 void tty_flip_buffer_push(struct tty_struct *tty)
 {
+	unsigned long flags;
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
+	if (tty->buf.tail != NULL)
+		tty->buf.tail->active = 0;
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
+
 	if (tty->low_latency)
 		flush_to_ldisc((void *) tty);
 	else
diff --git a/include/linux/kbd_kern.h b/include/linux/kbd_kern.h
index 45f625d7d0b2aab6ca2ee0e99dda5f0cd03109e3..3aed37314ab805de8fe3dcfec0a5282d7035cc54 100644
--- a/include/linux/kbd_kern.h
+++ b/include/linux/kbd_kern.h
@@ -151,6 +151,11 @@ extern unsigned int keymap_count;
 
 static inline void con_schedule_flip(struct tty_struct *t)
 {
+	unsigned long flags;
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&t->buf.lock, flags);
+	if (t->buf.tail != NULL)
+		t->buf.tail->active = 0;
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&t->buf.lock, flags);
 	schedule_work(&t->buf.work);
 }
 
diff --git a/include/linux/tty.h b/include/linux/tty.h
index 3787102e4b129abe52f3b53461ff1e7fffb33b40..a7bd3b4558d26efaa3ed8dae0b5bb53f0d184cab 100644
--- a/include/linux/tty.h
+++ b/include/linux/tty.h
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ struct tty_buffer {
 	unsigned char *flag_buf_ptr;
 	int used;
 	int size;
+	int active;
 	/* Data points here */
 	unsigned long data[0];
 };
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ struct tty_buffer {
 struct tty_bufhead {
 	struct work_struct		work;
 	struct semaphore pty_sem;
+	spinlock_t lock;
 	struct tty_buffer *head;	/* Queue head */
 	struct tty_buffer *tail;	/* Active buffer */
 	struct tty_buffer *free;	/* Free queue head */
diff --git a/include/linux/tty_flip.h b/include/linux/tty_flip.h
index be1400e82482f8aebd4d14e17e9d5ea99958cd85..82961eb1988861a08c6c459d3d095a1535bf52fb 100644
--- a/include/linux/tty_flip.h
+++ b/include/linux/tty_flip.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ _INLINE_ int tty_insert_flip_char(struct tty_struct *tty,
 				   unsigned char ch, char flag)
 {
 	struct tty_buffer *tb = tty->buf.tail;
-	if (tb && tb->used < tb->size) {
+	if (tb && tb->active && tb->used < tb->size) {
 		tb->flag_buf_ptr[tb->used] = flag;
 		tb->char_buf_ptr[tb->used++] = ch;
 		return 1;
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ _INLINE_ int tty_insert_flip_char(struct tty_struct *tty,
 
 _INLINE_ void tty_schedule_flip(struct tty_struct *tty)
 {
+	unsigned long flags;
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
+	if (tty->buf.tail != NULL)
+		tty->buf.tail->active = 0;
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tty->buf.lock, flags);
 	schedule_delayed_work(&tty->buf.work, 1);
 }