diff --git a/kernel/time/timer.c b/kernel/time/timer.c
index aa96b8a4e508f..a3ec21be3b140 100644
--- a/kernel/time/timer.c
+++ b/kernel/time/timer.c
@@ -1265,8 +1265,10 @@ static inline void timer_base_unlock_expiry(struct timer_base *base)
 static void timer_sync_wait_running(struct timer_base *base)
 {
 	if (atomic_read(&base->timer_waiters)) {
+		raw_spin_unlock_irq(&base->lock);
 		spin_unlock(&base->expiry_lock);
 		spin_lock(&base->expiry_lock);
+		raw_spin_lock_irq(&base->lock);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1450,14 +1452,14 @@ static void expire_timers(struct timer_base *base, struct hlist_head *head)
 		if (timer->flags & TIMER_IRQSAFE) {
 			raw_spin_unlock(&base->lock);
 			call_timer_fn(timer, fn, baseclk);
-			base->running_timer = NULL;
 			raw_spin_lock(&base->lock);
+			base->running_timer = NULL;
 		} else {
 			raw_spin_unlock_irq(&base->lock);
 			call_timer_fn(timer, fn, baseclk);
+			raw_spin_lock_irq(&base->lock);
 			base->running_timer = NULL;
 			timer_sync_wait_running(base);
-			raw_spin_lock_irq(&base->lock);
 		}
 	}
 }