diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
index 1a7aa078f351..6c7b364d0bf0 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/cmd.c
@@ -130,11 +130,8 @@ static int cmd_alloc_index(struct mlx5_cmd *cmd)
 
 static void cmd_free_index(struct mlx5_cmd *cmd, int idx)
 {
-	unsigned long flags;
-
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&cmd->alloc_lock, flags);
+	lockdep_assert_held(&cmd->alloc_lock);
 	set_bit(idx, &cmd->bitmask);
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cmd->alloc_lock, flags);
 }
 
 static void cmd_ent_get(struct mlx5_cmd_work_ent *ent)
@@ -144,17 +141,21 @@ static void cmd_ent_get(struct mlx5_cmd_work_ent *ent)
 
 static void cmd_ent_put(struct mlx5_cmd_work_ent *ent)
 {
+	struct mlx5_cmd *cmd = ent->cmd;
+	unsigned long flags;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&cmd->alloc_lock, flags);
 	if (!refcount_dec_and_test(&ent->refcnt))
-		return;
+		goto out;
 
 	if (ent->idx >= 0) {
-		struct mlx5_cmd *cmd = ent->cmd;
-
 		cmd_free_index(cmd, ent->idx);
 		up(ent->page_queue ? &cmd->pages_sem : &cmd->sem);
 	}
 
 	cmd_free_ent(ent);
+out:
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cmd->alloc_lock, flags);
 }
 
 static struct mlx5_cmd_layout *get_inst(struct mlx5_cmd *cmd, int idx)