diff --git a/drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c b/drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c
index da47e457e158..6417a26df8d8 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c
+++ b/drivers/misc/vmw_vmci/vmci_queue_pair.c
@@ -3355,11 +3355,11 @@ ssize_t vmci_qpair_dequev(struct vmci_qp *qpair,
 {
 	ssize_t result;
 
-	qp_lock(qpair);
-
 	if (!qpair || !iov)
 		return VMCI_ERROR_INVALID_ARGS;
 
+	qp_lock(qpair);
+
 	do {
 		result = qp_dequeue_locked(qpair->produce_q,
 					   qpair->consume_q,