diff --git a/include/asm-generic/qspinlock.h b/include/asm-generic/qspinlock.h
index 05f05f17a7c2e4fc14f8fa858abc9f7d7715c7b9..9f0681bf1e87d6ec0b2a224168fccc944286f29e 100644
--- a/include/asm-generic/qspinlock.h
+++ b/include/asm-generic/qspinlock.h
@@ -111,10 +111,9 @@ static __always_inline void queued_spin_lock(struct qspinlock *lock)
 static __always_inline void queued_spin_unlock(struct qspinlock *lock)
 {
 	/*
-	 * smp_mb__before_atomic() in order to guarantee release semantics
+	 * unlock() needs release semantics:
 	 */
-	smp_mb__before_atomic();
-	atomic_sub(_Q_LOCKED_VAL, &lock->val);
+	(void)atomic_sub_return_release(_Q_LOCKED_VAL, &lock->val);
 }
 #endif