diff --git a/kernel/irq_work.c b/kernel/irq_work.c
index df0dbf4d859b..255454a48346 100644
--- a/kernel/irq_work.c
+++ b/kernel/irq_work.c
@@ -29,24 +29,16 @@ static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct llist_head, lazy_list);
  */
 static bool irq_work_claim(struct irq_work *work)
 {
-	int flags, oflags, nflags;
+	int oflags;
 
+	oflags = atomic_fetch_or(IRQ_WORK_CLAIMED, &work->flags);
 	/*
-	 * Start with our best wish as a premise but only trust any
-	 * flag value after cmpxchg() result.
+	 * If the work is already pending, no need to raise the IPI.
+	 * The pairing atomic_xchg() in irq_work_run() makes sure
+	 * everything we did before is visible.
 	 */
-	flags = atomic_read(&work->flags) & ~IRQ_WORK_PENDING;
-	for (;;) {
-		nflags = flags | IRQ_WORK_CLAIMED;
-		oflags = atomic_cmpxchg(&work->flags, flags, nflags);
-		if (oflags == flags)
-			break;
-		if (oflags & IRQ_WORK_PENDING)
-			return false;
-		flags = oflags;
-		cpu_relax();
-	}
-
+	if (oflags & IRQ_WORK_PENDING)
+		return false;
 	return true;
 }