diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S b/arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S
index f402087a02ac2..83050c9e54d9a 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S
@@ -192,6 +192,12 @@ SYM_CODE_START(secondary_startup_64)
 	movl	initial_gs+4(%rip),%edx
 	wrmsr
 
+	/*
+	 * Setup a boot time stack - Any secondary CPU will have lost its stack
+	 * by now because the cr3-switch above unmaps the real-mode stack
+	 */
+	movq initial_stack(%rip), %rsp
+
 	/* Check if nx is implemented */
 	movl	$0x80000001, %eax
 	cpuid
@@ -212,9 +218,6 @@ SYM_CODE_START(secondary_startup_64)
 	/* Make changes effective */
 	movq	%rax, %cr0
 
-	/* Setup a boot time stack */
-	movq initial_stack(%rip), %rsp
-
 	/* zero EFLAGS after setting rsp */
 	pushq $0
 	popfq