diff --git a/arch/um/kernel/sigio.c b/arch/um/kernel/sigio.c
index 10c99e058fca..d1cffc2a7f21 100644
--- a/arch/um/kernel/sigio.c
+++ b/arch/um/kernel/sigio.c
@@ -35,14 +35,14 @@ int write_sigio_irq(int fd)
 }
 
 /* These are called from os-Linux/sigio.c to protect its pollfds arrays. */
-static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(sigio_spinlock);
+static DEFINE_MUTEX(sigio_mutex);
 
 void sigio_lock(void)
 {
-	spin_lock(&sigio_spinlock);
+	mutex_lock(&sigio_mutex);
 }
 
 void sigio_unlock(void)
 {
-	spin_unlock(&sigio_spinlock);
+	mutex_unlock(&sigio_mutex);
 }