diff --git a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
index d270e8eb3e67..47d2ad0ae079 100644
--- a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
+++ b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
@@ -1070,11 +1070,11 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev(struct sys_device *sys_dev)
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
 #endif
 
+	unlock_policy_rwsem_write(cpu);
+
 	if (cpufreq_driver->target)
 		__cpufreq_governor(data, CPUFREQ_GOV_STOP);
 
-	unlock_policy_rwsem_write(cpu);
-
 	kobject_put(&data->kobj);
 
 	/* we need to make sure that the underlying kobj is actually