diff --git a/drivers/atm/nicstar.c b/drivers/atm/nicstar.c
index 13ed54cf2c31..9988ac98b6d8 100644
--- a/drivers/atm/nicstar.c
+++ b/drivers/atm/nicstar.c
@@ -1739,10 +1739,10 @@ static int push_scqe(ns_dev * card, vc_map * vc, scq_info * scq, ns_scqe * tbd,
 		}
 
 		scq->full = 1;
-		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&scq->lock, flags);
-		interruptible_sleep_on_timeout(&scq->scqfull_waitq,
-					       SCQFULL_TIMEOUT);
-		spin_lock_irqsave(&scq->lock, flags);
+		wait_event_interruptible_lock_irq_timeout(scq->scqfull_waitq,
+							  scq->tail != scq->next,
+							  scq->lock,
+							  SCQFULL_TIMEOUT);
 
 		if (scq->full) {
 			spin_unlock_irqrestore(&scq->lock, flags);
@@ -1789,10 +1789,10 @@ static int push_scqe(ns_dev * card, vc_map * vc, scq_info * scq, ns_scqe * tbd,
 			scq->full = 1;
 			if (has_run++)
 				break;
-			spin_unlock_irqrestore(&scq->lock, flags);
-			interruptible_sleep_on_timeout(&scq->scqfull_waitq,
-						       SCQFULL_TIMEOUT);
-			spin_lock_irqsave(&scq->lock, flags);
+			wait_event_interruptible_lock_irq_timeout(scq->scqfull_waitq,
+								  scq->tail != scq->next,
+								  scq->lock,
+								  SCQFULL_TIMEOUT);
 		}
 
 		if (!scq->full) {