diff --git a/drivers/acpi/processor_driver.c b/drivers/acpi/processor_driver.c
index bd4e5dca3ff7..a4352b88a331 100644
--- a/drivers/acpi/processor_driver.c
+++ b/drivers/acpi/processor_driver.c
@@ -852,8 +852,22 @@ static int acpi_processor_handle_eject(struct acpi_processor *pr)
 	if (cpu_online(pr->id))
 		cpu_down(pr->id);
 
+	get_online_cpus();
+	/*
+	 * The cpu might become online again at this point. So we check whether
+	 * the cpu has been onlined or not. If the cpu became online, it means
+	 * that someone wants to use the cpu. So acpi_processor_handle_eject()
+	 * returns -EAGAIN.
+	 */
+	if (unlikely(cpu_online(pr->id))) {
+		put_online_cpus();
+		pr_warn("Failed to remove CPU %d, because other task "
+			"brought the CPU back online\n", pr->id);
+		return -EAGAIN;
+	}
 	arch_unregister_cpu(pr->id);
 	acpi_unmap_lsapic(pr->id);
+	put_online_cpus();
 	return (0);
 }
 #else
diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
index 42bd331ee0ab..f45657f1eb8e 100644
--- a/kernel/cpu.c
+++ b/kernel/cpu.c
@@ -348,11 +348,13 @@ static int __cpuinit _cpu_up(unsigned int cpu, int tasks_frozen)
 	unsigned long mod = tasks_frozen ? CPU_TASKS_FROZEN : 0;
 	struct task_struct *idle;
 
-	if (cpu_online(cpu) || !cpu_present(cpu))
-		return -EINVAL;
-
 	cpu_hotplug_begin();
 
+	if (cpu_online(cpu) || !cpu_present(cpu)) {
+		ret = -EINVAL;
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	idle = idle_thread_get(cpu);
 	if (IS_ERR(idle)) {
 		ret = PTR_ERR(idle);