diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index ef19f22b2b7d..ea0e6a6e7a11 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -981,21 +981,21 @@ static void __init __free_pages_boot_core(struct page *page,
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_EARLY_PFN_TO_NID) || \
 	defined(CONFIG_HAVE_MEMBLOCK_NODE_MAP)
-/* Only safe to use early in boot when initialisation is single-threaded */
+
 static struct mminit_pfnnid_cache early_pfnnid_cache __meminitdata;
 
 int __meminit early_pfn_to_nid(unsigned long pfn)
 {
+	static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(early_pfn_lock);
 	int nid;
 
-	/* The system will behave unpredictably otherwise */
-	BUG_ON(system_state != SYSTEM_BOOTING);
-
+	spin_lock(&early_pfn_lock);
 	nid = __early_pfn_to_nid(pfn, &early_pfnnid_cache);
-	if (nid >= 0)
-		return nid;
-	/* just returns 0 */
-	return 0;
+	if (nid < 0)
+		nid = 0;
+	spin_unlock(&early_pfn_lock);
+
+	return nid;
 }
 #endif