diff --git a/kernel/async.c b/kernel/async.c
index 2cbd3dd5940d..a893d6170944 100644
--- a/kernel/async.c
+++ b/kernel/async.c
@@ -84,20 +84,24 @@ static atomic_t entry_count;
 
 static async_cookie_t lowest_in_progress(struct async_domain *domain)
 {
-	struct list_head *pending;
+	struct async_entry *first = NULL;
 	async_cookie_t ret = ASYNC_COOKIE_MAX;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&async_lock, flags);
 
-	if (domain)
-		pending = &domain->pending;
-	else
-		pending = &async_global_pending;
+	if (domain) {
+		if (!list_empty(&domain->pending))
+			first = list_first_entry(&domain->pending,
+					struct async_entry, domain_list);
+	} else {
+		if (!list_empty(&async_global_pending))
+			first = list_first_entry(&async_global_pending,
+					struct async_entry, global_list);
+	}
 
-	if (!list_empty(pending))
-		ret = list_first_entry(pending, struct async_entry,
-				       domain_list)->cookie;
+	if (first)
+		ret = first->cookie;
 
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&async_lock, flags);
 	return ret;