diff --git a/drivers/tty/serial/meson_uart.c b/drivers/tty/serial/meson_uart.c
index efee3935917fc..62e6c1af13445 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/serial/meson_uart.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/serial/meson_uart.c
@@ -253,6 +253,14 @@ static const char *meson_uart_type(struct uart_port *port)
 	return (port->type == PORT_MESON) ? "meson_uart" : NULL;
 }
 
+/*
+ * This function is called only from probe() using a temporary io mapping
+ * in order to perform a reset before setting up the device. Since the
+ * temporarily mapped region was successfully requested, there can be no
+ * console on this port at this time. Hence it is not necessary for this
+ * function to acquire the port->lock. (Since there is no console on this
+ * port at this time, the port->lock is not initialized yet.)
+ */
 static void meson_uart_reset(struct uart_port *port)
 {
 	u32 val;
@@ -267,9 +275,12 @@ static void meson_uart_reset(struct uart_port *port)
 
 static int meson_uart_startup(struct uart_port *port)
 {
+	unsigned long flags;
 	u32 val;
 	int ret = 0;
 
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&port->lock, flags);
+
 	val = readl(port->membase + AML_UART_CONTROL);
 	val |= AML_UART_CLEAR_ERR;
 	writel(val, port->membase + AML_UART_CONTROL);
@@ -285,6 +296,8 @@ static int meson_uart_startup(struct uart_port *port)
 	val = (AML_UART_RECV_IRQ(1) | AML_UART_XMIT_IRQ(port->fifosize / 2));
 	writel(val, port->membase + AML_UART_MISC);
 
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&port->lock, flags);
+
 	ret = request_irq(port->irq, meson_uart_interrupt, 0,
 			  port->name, port);