diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h
index cd8815a35a44a4914723e99452b009da9f7ad390..0a0182107dc99ca564719c8260529fca2ec09c0e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/core.h
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ struct ath10k {
 	struct list_head peers;
 	wait_queue_head_t peer_mapping_wq;
 
-	/* number of created peers; protected by data_lock */
+	/* protected by conf_mutex */
 	int num_peers;
 
 	struct work_struct offchan_tx_work;
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
index f364b845d99128ddd970f888133567e3cf1e052e..bb138ceca2b946d416f7437a555576d05937f17b 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
@@ -368,9 +368,8 @@ static int ath10k_peer_create(struct ath10k *ar, u32 vdev_id, const u8 *addr)
 			    addr, vdev_id, ret);
 		return ret;
 	}
-	spin_lock_bh(&ar->data_lock);
+
 	ar->num_peers++;
-	spin_unlock_bh(&ar->data_lock);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -461,9 +460,7 @@ static int ath10k_peer_delete(struct ath10k *ar, u32 vdev_id, const u8 *addr)
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	spin_lock_bh(&ar->data_lock);
 	ar->num_peers--;
-	spin_unlock_bh(&ar->data_lock);
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -500,8 +497,9 @@ static void ath10k_peer_cleanup_all(struct ath10k *ar)
 		list_del(&peer->list);
 		kfree(peer);
 	}
-	ar->num_peers = 0;
 	spin_unlock_bh(&ar->data_lock);
+
+	ar->num_peers = 0;
 }
 
 /************************/