diff --git a/kernel/workqueue.c b/kernel/workqueue.c
index 1935302cc645d22dcbe1403085fe623382645190..58e5c152a6bb9c2283937a84ec431eac73fc5b87 100644
--- a/kernel/workqueue.c
+++ b/kernel/workqueue.c
@@ -752,18 +752,17 @@ static void cleanup_workqueue_thread(struct cpu_workqueue_struct *cwq, int cpu)
 	if (cwq->thread == NULL)
 		return;
 
+	flush_cpu_workqueue(cwq);
 	/*
-	 * If the caller is CPU_DEAD the single flush_cpu_workqueue()
-	 * is not enough, a concurrent flush_workqueue() can insert a
-	 * barrier after us.
+	 * If the caller is CPU_DEAD and cwq->worklist was not empty,
+	 * a concurrent flush_workqueue() can insert a barrier after us.
+	 * However, in that case run_workqueue() won't return and check
+	 * kthread_should_stop() until it flushes all work_struct's.
 	 * When ->worklist becomes empty it is safe to exit because no
 	 * more work_structs can be queued on this cwq: flush_workqueue
 	 * checks list_empty(), and a "normal" queue_work() can't use
 	 * a dead CPU.
 	 */
-	while (flush_cpu_workqueue(cwq))
-		;
-
 	kthread_stop(cwq->thread);
 	cwq->thread = NULL;
 }