diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_chardev.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_chardev.c
index 799a91a064a1b94c4828973a721e36f5f539618d..2a99edf8666e3667b62e983d50d3c27a0fc1fb30 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_chardev.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_chardev.c
@@ -128,13 +128,6 @@ static int kfd_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filep)
 	if (IS_ERR(process))
 		return PTR_ERR(process);
 
-	if (kfd_is_locked()) {
-		dev_dbg(kfd_device, "kfd is locked!\n"
-				"process %d unreferenced", process->pasid);
-		kfd_unref_process(process);
-		return -EAGAIN;
-	}
-
 	/* filep now owns the reference returned by kfd_create_process */
 	filep->private_data = process;
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_device.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_device.c
index 148e43dee657ac0217306a2ba519f2150873965a..04126ffbc9733ae1c4b5be5ec11328d0097c75ad 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_device.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_device.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
  * once locked, kfd driver will stop any further GPU execution.
  * create process (open) will return -EAGAIN.
  */
-static atomic_t kfd_locked = ATOMIC_INIT(0);
+static int kfd_locked;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_DRM_AMDGPU_CIK
 extern const struct kfd2kgd_calls gfx_v7_kfd2kgd;
@@ -842,8 +842,9 @@ int kgd2kfd_post_reset(struct kfd_dev *kfd)
 	ret = kfd_resume(kfd);
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
-	atomic_dec(&kfd_locked);
-
+	mutex_lock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
+	--kfd_locked;
+	mutex_unlock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
 	atomic_set(&kfd->sram_ecc_flag, 0);
 
 	kfd_smi_event_update_gpu_reset(kfd, true);
@@ -853,7 +854,8 @@ int kgd2kfd_post_reset(struct kfd_dev *kfd)
 
 bool kfd_is_locked(void)
 {
-	return  (atomic_read(&kfd_locked) > 0);
+	lockdep_assert_held(&kfd_processes_mutex);
+	return  (kfd_locked > 0);
 }
 
 void kgd2kfd_suspend(struct kfd_dev *kfd, bool run_pm)
@@ -863,9 +865,11 @@ void kgd2kfd_suspend(struct kfd_dev *kfd, bool run_pm)
 
 	/* for runtime suspend, skip locking kfd */
 	if (!run_pm) {
+		mutex_lock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
 		/* For first KFD device suspend all the KFD processes */
-		if (atomic_inc_return(&kfd_locked) == 1)
+		if (++kfd_locked == 1)
 			kfd_suspend_all_processes();
+		mutex_unlock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
 	}
 
 	kfd->dqm->ops.stop(kfd->dqm);
@@ -874,7 +878,7 @@ void kgd2kfd_suspend(struct kfd_dev *kfd, bool run_pm)
 
 int kgd2kfd_resume(struct kfd_dev *kfd, bool run_pm)
 {
-	int ret, count;
+	int ret;
 
 	if (!kfd->init_complete)
 		return 0;
@@ -885,10 +889,11 @@ int kgd2kfd_resume(struct kfd_dev *kfd, bool run_pm)
 
 	/* for runtime resume, skip unlocking kfd */
 	if (!run_pm) {
-		count = atomic_dec_return(&kfd_locked);
-		WARN_ONCE(count < 0, "KFD suspend / resume ref. error");
-		if (count == 0)
+		mutex_lock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
+		if (--kfd_locked == 0)
 			ret = kfd_resume_all_processes();
+		WARN_ONCE(kfd_locked < 0, "KFD suspend / resume ref. error");
+		mutex_unlock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
 	}
 
 	return ret;
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_priv.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_priv.h
index 057c48a9b53a78083f741909ce850ad035c6e408..b3b4da634f71f961345db8cadbf2fe0ef5d1a5ad 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_priv.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_priv.h
@@ -172,6 +172,8 @@ extern int queue_preemption_timeout_ms;
 /* Enable eviction debug messages */
 extern bool debug_evictions;
 
+extern struct mutex kfd_processes_mutex;
+
 enum cache_policy {
 	cache_policy_coherent,
 	cache_policy_noncoherent
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_process.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_process.c
index d243e60c6eef779c216d8b591f3535c442952829..aa1e9d7a2507b1b8883eb8c304fc7807f21a6dfe 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_process.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/amdkfd/kfd_process.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ struct mm_struct;
  * Unique/indexed by mm_struct*
  */
 DEFINE_HASHTABLE(kfd_processes_table, KFD_PROCESS_TABLE_SIZE);
-static DEFINE_MUTEX(kfd_processes_mutex);
+DEFINE_MUTEX(kfd_processes_mutex);
 
 DEFINE_SRCU(kfd_processes_srcu);
 
@@ -761,6 +761,12 @@ struct kfd_process *kfd_create_process(struct file *filep)
 	 */
 	mutex_lock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
 
+	if (kfd_is_locked()) {
+		mutex_unlock(&kfd_processes_mutex);
+		pr_debug("KFD is locked! Cannot create process");
+		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
+	}
+
 	/* A prior open of /dev/kfd could have already created the process. */
 	process = find_process(thread);
 	if (process) {