diff --git a/arch/arm/kvm/arm.c b/arch/arm/kvm/arm.c
index d94bb90..75f130e 100644
--- a/arch/arm/kvm/arm.c
+++ b/arch/arm/kvm/arm.c
@@ -1009,9 +1009,13 @@
 
 	switch (ioctl) {
 	case KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP: {
+		int ret;
 		if (!vgic_present)
 			return -ENXIO;
-		return kvm_vgic_create(kvm, KVM_DEV_TYPE_ARM_VGIC_V2);
+		mutex_lock(&kvm->lock);
+		ret = kvm_vgic_create(kvm, KVM_DEV_TYPE_ARM_VGIC_V2);
+		mutex_unlock(&kvm->lock);
+		return ret;
 	}
 	case KVM_ARM_SET_DEVICE_ADDR: {
 		struct kvm_arm_device_addr dev_addr;
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_xics.c b/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_xics.c
index f2def8e..05aa113 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_xics.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s_xics.c
@@ -1329,12 +1329,10 @@
 	xics->kvm = kvm;
 
 	/* Already there ? */
-	mutex_lock(&kvm->lock);
 	if (kvm->arch.xics)
 		ret = -EEXIST;
 	else
 		kvm->arch.xics = xics;
-	mutex_unlock(&kvm->lock);
 
 	if (ret) {
 		kfree(xics);
diff --git a/include/linux/kvm_host.h b/include/linux/kvm_host.h
index d3c9b82..9c28b4d 100644
--- a/include/linux/kvm_host.h
+++ b/include/linux/kvm_host.h
@@ -1113,6 +1113,12 @@
 /* create, destroy, and name are mandatory */
 struct kvm_device_ops {
 	const char *name;
+
+	/*
+	 * create is called holding kvm->lock and any operations not suitable
+	 * to do while holding the lock should be deferred to init (see
+	 * below).
+	 */
 	int (*create)(struct kvm_device *dev, u32 type);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/virt/kvm/arm/vgic/vgic-init.c b/virt/kvm/arm/vgic/vgic-init.c
index fb4b0a7..83777c1 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/arm/vgic/vgic-init.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/arm/vgic/vgic-init.c
@@ -73,12 +73,8 @@
 	int i, vcpu_lock_idx = -1, ret;
 	struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu;
 
-	mutex_lock(&kvm->lock);
-
-	if (irqchip_in_kernel(kvm)) {
-		ret = -EEXIST;
-		goto out;
-	}
+	if (irqchip_in_kernel(kvm))
+		return -EEXIST;
 
 	/*
 	 * This function is also called by the KVM_CREATE_IRQCHIP handler,
@@ -87,10 +83,8 @@
 	 * the proper checks already.
 	 */
 	if (type == KVM_DEV_TYPE_ARM_VGIC_V2 &&
-		!kvm_vgic_global_state.can_emulate_gicv2) {
-		ret = -ENODEV;
-		goto out;
-	}
+		!kvm_vgic_global_state.can_emulate_gicv2)
+		return -ENODEV;
 
 	/*
 	 * Any time a vcpu is run, vcpu_load is called which tries to grab the
@@ -138,9 +132,6 @@
 		vcpu = kvm_get_vcpu(kvm, vcpu_lock_idx);
 		mutex_unlock(&vcpu->mutex);
 	}
-
-out:
-	mutex_unlock(&kvm->lock);
 	return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
index ae64245..1950782 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/kvm_main.c
@@ -696,6 +696,11 @@
 {
 	struct kvm_device *dev, *tmp;
 
+	/*
+	 * We do not need to take the kvm->lock here, because nobody else
+	 * has a reference to the struct kvm at this point and therefore
+	 * cannot access the devices list anyhow.
+	 */
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(dev, tmp, &kvm->devices, vm_node) {
 		list_del(&dev->vm_node);
 		dev->ops->destroy(dev);
@@ -2832,11 +2837,15 @@
 	dev->ops = ops;
 	dev->kvm = kvm;
 
+	mutex_lock(&kvm->lock);
 	ret = ops->create(dev, cd->type);
 	if (ret < 0) {
+		mutex_unlock(&kvm->lock);
 		kfree(dev);
 		return ret;
 	}
+	list_add(&dev->vm_node, &kvm->devices);
+	mutex_unlock(&kvm->lock);
 
 	if (ops->init)
 		ops->init(dev);
@@ -2844,10 +2853,12 @@
 	ret = anon_inode_getfd(ops->name, &kvm_device_fops, dev, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		ops->destroy(dev);
+		mutex_lock(&kvm->lock);
+		list_del(&dev->vm_node);
+		mutex_unlock(&kvm->lock);
 		return ret;
 	}
 
-	list_add(&dev->vm_node, &kvm->devices);
 	kvm_get_kvm(kvm);
 	cd->fd = ret;
 	return 0;