diff --git a/src/security/security_stack.c b/src/security/security_stack.c
index 82b79c326c9a87bcf28cc377a83349e4d9cd3efd..087aa81752d06751e88f8a76db0fbadcbcd13d91 100644
--- a/src/security/security_stack.c
+++ b/src/security/security_stack.c
@@ -129,6 +129,11 @@ virSecurityStackPreFork(virSecurityManagerPtr mgr)
             rc = -1;
             break;
         }
+        /* Undo the unbalanced locking left behind after recursion; if
+         * PostFork ever delegates to driver callbacks, we'd instead
+         * need to recurse to an internal method that does not regrab
+         * a lock. */
+        virSecurityManagerPostFork(item->securityManager);
     }
 
     return rc;