diff --git a/softmmu/cpus.c b/softmmu/cpus.c
index 23bca46b07f4..035395ae13e7 100644
--- a/softmmu/cpus.c
+++ b/softmmu/cpus.c
@@ -73,12 +73,7 @@ bool cpu_is_stopped(CPUState *cpu)
 
 bool cpu_work_list_empty(CPUState *cpu)
 {
-    bool ret;
-
-    qemu_mutex_lock(&cpu->work_mutex);
-    ret = QSIMPLEQ_EMPTY(&cpu->work_list);
-    qemu_mutex_unlock(&cpu->work_mutex);
-    return ret;
+    return QSIMPLEQ_EMPTY_ATOMIC(&cpu->work_list);
 }
 
 bool cpu_thread_is_idle(CPUState *cpu)