diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c b/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c
index fae0fbd8bc887a99ca0e068bbc4d06bed884775c..81b96e303757a5bd99177b2a0f8b163cec4eb9c7 100644
--- a/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c
+++ b/drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ static int unlink_urbs (struct usbnet *dev, struct sk_buff_head *q)
 		entry = (struct skb_data *) skb->cb;
 		urb = entry->urb;
 
+		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&q->lock, flags);
 		// during some PM-driven resume scenarios,
 		// these (async) unlinks complete immediately
 		retval = usb_unlink_urb (urb);
@@ -596,6 +597,7 @@ static int unlink_urbs (struct usbnet *dev, struct sk_buff_head *q)
 			netdev_dbg(dev->net, "unlink urb err, %d\n", retval);
 		else
 			count++;
+		spin_lock_irqsave(&q->lock, flags);
 	}
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore (&q->lock, flags);
 	return count;