diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/reboot.c b/arch/x86/kernel/reboot.c
index db115943e8bd..efbaef8b4de9 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/reboot.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/reboot.c
@@ -538,31 +538,21 @@ static void emergency_vmx_disable_all(void)
 	local_irq_disable();
 
 	/*
-	 * We need to disable VMX on all CPUs before rebooting, otherwise
-	 * we risk hanging up the machine, because the CPU ignores INIT
-	 * signals when VMX is enabled.
+	 * Disable VMX on all CPUs before rebooting, otherwise we risk hanging
+	 * the machine, because the CPU blocks INIT when it's in VMX root.
 	 *
-	 * We can't take any locks and we may be on an inconsistent
-	 * state, so we use NMIs as IPIs to tell the other CPUs to disable
-	 * VMX and halt.
+	 * We can't take any locks and we may be on an inconsistent state, so
+	 * use NMIs as IPIs to tell the other CPUs to exit VMX root and halt.
 	 *
-	 * For safety, we will avoid running the nmi_shootdown_cpus()
-	 * stuff unnecessarily, but we don't have a way to check
-	 * if other CPUs have VMX enabled. So we will call it only if the
-	 * CPU we are running on has VMX enabled.
-	 *
-	 * We will miss cases where VMX is not enabled on all CPUs. This
-	 * shouldn't do much harm because KVM always enable VMX on all
-	 * CPUs anyway. But we can miss it on the small window where KVM
-	 * is still enabling VMX.
+	 * Do the NMI shootdown even if VMX if off on _this_ CPU, as that
+	 * doesn't prevent a different CPU from being in VMX root operation.
 	 */
-	if (cpu_has_vmx() && cpu_vmx_enabled()) {
-		/* Disable VMX on this CPU. */
-		cpu_vmxoff();
+	if (cpu_has_vmx()) {
+		/* Safely force _this_ CPU out of VMX root operation. */
+		__cpu_emergency_vmxoff();
 
-		/* Halt and disable VMX on the other CPUs */
+		/* Halt and exit VMX root operation on the other CPUs. */
 		nmi_shootdown_cpus(vmxoff_nmi);
-
 	}
 }