diff --git a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
index ca69f42b8e1e..2b181f75da15 100644
--- a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
+++ b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
@@ -1392,9 +1392,10 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev_finish(struct device *dev,
 	unsigned long flags;
 	struct cpufreq_policy *policy;
 
-	read_lock_irqsave(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
+	write_lock_irqsave(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
 	policy = per_cpu(cpufreq_cpu_data, cpu);
-	read_unlock_irqrestore(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
+	per_cpu(cpufreq_cpu_data, cpu) = NULL;
+	write_unlock_irqrestore(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
 
 	if (!policy) {
 		pr_debug("%s: No cpu_data found\n", __func__);
@@ -1449,7 +1450,6 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev_finish(struct device *dev,
 		}
 	}
 
-	per_cpu(cpufreq_cpu_data, cpu) = NULL;
 	return 0;
 }