diff --git a/drivers/virtio/virtio_balloon.c b/drivers/virtio/virtio_balloon.c
index 7efc32945810..7d3e5d0e9aa4 100644
--- a/drivers/virtio/virtio_balloon.c
+++ b/drivers/virtio/virtio_balloon.c
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ static unsigned leak_balloon(struct virtio_balloon *vb, size_t num)
 	 */
 	if (vb->num_pfns != 0)
 		tell_host(vb, vb->deflate_vq);
-	mutex_unlock(&vb->balloon_lock);
 	release_pages_balloon(vb);
+	mutex_unlock(&vb->balloon_lock);
 	return num_freed_pages;
 }