diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index ebd187f50339..897d97762d8a 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -3285,7 +3285,13 @@ static const u64 min_bandwidth_expiration = 2 * NSEC_PER_MSEC;
 /* how long we wait to gather additional slack before distributing */
 static const u64 cfs_bandwidth_slack_period = 5 * NSEC_PER_MSEC;
 
-/* are we near the end of the current quota period? */
+/*
+ * Are we near the end of the current quota period?
+ *
+ * Requires cfs_b->lock for hrtimer_expires_remaining to be safe against the
+ * hrtimer base being cleared by __hrtimer_start_range_ns. In the case of
+ * migrate_hrtimers, base is never cleared, so we are fine.
+ */
 static int runtime_refresh_within(struct cfs_bandwidth *cfs_b, u64 min_expire)
 {
 	struct hrtimer *refresh_timer = &cfs_b->period_timer;
@@ -3361,10 +3367,12 @@ static void do_sched_cfs_slack_timer(struct cfs_bandwidth *cfs_b)
 	u64 expires;
 
 	/* confirm we're still not at a refresh boundary */
-	if (runtime_refresh_within(cfs_b, min_bandwidth_expiration))
-		return;
-
 	raw_spin_lock(&cfs_b->lock);
+	if (runtime_refresh_within(cfs_b, min_bandwidth_expiration)) {
+		raw_spin_unlock(&cfs_b->lock);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (cfs_b->quota != RUNTIME_INF && cfs_b->runtime > slice) {
 		runtime = cfs_b->runtime;
 		cfs_b->runtime = 0;