diff --git a/drivers/scsi/virtio_scsi.c b/drivers/scsi/virtio_scsi.c
index db3b494e5926..fc054935eb1f 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/virtio_scsi.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/virtio_scsi.c
@@ -73,17 +73,12 @@ struct virtio_scsi_vq {
  * queue, and also lets the driver optimize the IRQ affinity for the virtqueues
  * (each virtqueue's affinity is set to the CPU that "owns" the queue).
  *
- * An interesting effect of this policy is that only writes to req_vq need to
- * take the tgt_lock.  Read can be done outside the lock because:
+ * tgt_lock is held to serialize reading and writing req_vq. Reading req_vq
+ * could be done locklessly, but we do not do it yet.
  *
- * - writes of req_vq only occur when atomic_inc_return(&tgt->reqs) returns 1.
- *   In that case, no other CPU is reading req_vq: even if they were in
- *   virtscsi_queuecommand_multi, they would be spinning on tgt_lock.
- *
- * - reads of req_vq only occur when the target is not idle (reqs != 0).
- *   A CPU that enters virtscsi_queuecommand_multi will not modify req_vq.
- *
- * Similarly, decrements of reqs are never concurrent with writes of req_vq.
+ * Decrements of reqs are never concurrent with writes of req_vq: before the
+ * decrement reqs will be != 0; after the decrement the virtqueue completion
+ * routine will not use the req_vq so it can be changed by a new request.
  * Thus they can happen outside the tgt_lock, provided of course we make reqs
  * an atomic_t.
  */
@@ -238,38 +233,6 @@ static void virtscsi_req_done(struct virtqueue *vq)
 	int index = vq->index - VIRTIO_SCSI_VQ_BASE;
 	struct virtio_scsi_vq *req_vq = &vscsi->req_vqs[index];
 
-	/*
-	 * Read req_vq before decrementing the reqs field in
-	 * virtscsi_complete_cmd.
-	 *
-	 * With barriers:
-	 *
-	 * 	CPU #0			virtscsi_queuecommand_multi (CPU #1)
-	 * 	------------------------------------------------------------
-	 * 	lock vq_lock
-	 * 	read req_vq
-	 * 	read reqs (reqs = 1)
-	 * 	write reqs (reqs = 0)
-	 * 				increment reqs (reqs = 1)
-	 * 				write req_vq
-	 *
-	 * Possible reordering without barriers:
-	 *
-	 * 	CPU #0			virtscsi_queuecommand_multi (CPU #1)
-	 * 	------------------------------------------------------------
-	 * 	lock vq_lock
-	 * 	read reqs (reqs = 1)
-	 * 	write reqs (reqs = 0)
-	 * 				increment reqs (reqs = 1)
-	 * 				write req_vq
-	 * 	read (wrong) req_vq
-	 *
-	 * We do not need a full smp_rmb, because req_vq is required to get
-	 * to tgt->reqs: tgt is &vscsi->tgt[sc->device->id], where sc is stored
-	 * in the virtqueue as the user token.
-	 */
-	smp_read_barrier_depends();
-
 	virtscsi_vq_done(vscsi, req_vq, virtscsi_complete_cmd);
 };
 
@@ -560,12 +523,8 @@ static struct virtio_scsi_vq *virtscsi_pick_vq(struct virtio_scsi *vscsi,
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&tgt->tgt_lock, flags);
 
-	/*
-	 * The memory barrier after atomic_inc_return matches
-	 * the smp_read_barrier_depends() in virtscsi_req_done.
-	 */
 	if (atomic_inc_return(&tgt->reqs) > 1)
-		vq = ACCESS_ONCE(tgt->req_vq);
+		vq = tgt->req_vq;
 	else {
 		queue_num = smp_processor_id();
 		while (unlikely(queue_num >= vscsi->num_queues))