diff --git a/sound/pci/mixart/mixart_core.c b/sound/pci/mixart/mixart_core.c
index 0bdd33b0af65..fb8895af0363 100644
--- a/sound/pci/mixart/mixart_core.c
+++ b/sound/pci/mixart/mixart_core.c
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ static int get_msg(struct mixart_mgr *mgr, struct mixart_msg *resp,
 	unsigned int i;
 #endif
 
-	mutex_lock(&mgr->msg_lock);
 	err = 0;
 
 	/* copy message descriptor from miXart to driver */
@@ -119,8 +118,6 @@ static int get_msg(struct mixart_mgr *mgr, struct mixart_msg *resp,
 	writel_be(headptr, MIXART_MEM(mgr, MSG_OUTBOUND_FREE_HEAD));
 
  _clean_exit:
-	mutex_unlock(&mgr->msg_lock);
-
 	return err;
 }
 
@@ -258,7 +255,9 @@ int snd_mixart_send_msg(struct mixart_mgr *mgr, struct mixart_msg *request, int
 	resp.data = resp_data;
 	resp.size = max_resp_size;
 
+	mutex_lock(&mgr->msg_lock);
 	err = get_msg(mgr, &resp, msg_frame);
+	mutex_unlock(&mgr->msg_lock);
 
 	if( request->message_id != resp.message_id )
 		dev_err(&mgr->pci->dev, "RESPONSE ERROR!\n");