diff --git a/include/linux/mm_types.h b/include/linux/mm_types.h
index f58f76ee1dfa..0e478ebd2706 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm_types.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm_types.h
@@ -526,12 +526,12 @@ static inline cpumask_t *mm_cpumask(struct mm_struct *mm)
 /*
  * Memory barriers to keep this state in sync are graciously provided by
  * the page table locks, outside of which no page table modifications happen.
- * The barriers below prevent the compiler from re-ordering the instructions
- * around the memory barriers that are already present in the code.
+ * The barriers are used to ensure the order between tlb_flush_pending updates,
+ * which happen while the lock is not taken, and the PTE updates, which happen
+ * while the lock is taken, are serialized.
  */
 static inline bool mm_tlb_flush_pending(struct mm_struct *mm)
 {
-	barrier();
 	return atomic_read(&mm->tlb_flush_pending) > 0;
 }
 
@@ -554,7 +554,13 @@ static inline void inc_tlb_flush_pending(struct mm_struct *mm)
 /* Clearing is done after a TLB flush, which also provides a barrier. */
 static inline void dec_tlb_flush_pending(struct mm_struct *mm)
 {
-	barrier();
+	/*
+	 * Guarantee that the tlb_flush_pending does not not leak into the
+	 * critical section, since we must order the PTE change and changes to
+	 * the pending TLB flush indication. We could have relied on TLB flush
+	 * as a memory barrier, but this behavior is not clearly documented.
+	 */
+	smp_mb__before_atomic();
 	atomic_dec(&mm->tlb_flush_pending);
 }
 #else