diff --git a/drivers/char/vt_ioctl.c b/drivers/char/vt_ioctl.c
index 1fa2da8f4fbe02596ac3df45819b25fe4b62bc24..c9f2dd620e877391373034eba491fb0789a2c425 100644
--- a/drivers/char/vt_ioctl.c
+++ b/drivers/char/vt_ioctl.c
@@ -1039,10 +1039,22 @@ int vt_waitactive(int vt)
 
 	add_wait_queue(&vt_activate_queue, &wait);
 	for (;;) {
-		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
 		retval = 0;
-		if (vt == fg_console)
+
+		/*
+		 * Synchronize with redraw_screen(). By acquiring the console
+		 * semaphore we make sure that the console switch is completed
+		 * before we return. If we didn't wait for the semaphore, we
+		 * could return at a point where fg_console has already been
+		 * updated, but the console switch hasn't been completed.
+		 */
+		acquire_console_sem();
+		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
+		if (vt == fg_console) {
+			release_console_sem();
 			break;
+		}
+		release_console_sem();
 		retval = -EINTR;
 		if (signal_pending(current))
 			break;