diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h b/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h
index f2faa779e3fe2..dd6b7c362813c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ struct xenvif {
 	/* The shared rings and indexes. */
 	struct xen_netif_tx_back_ring tx;
 	struct xen_netif_rx_back_ring rx;
+	atomic_t ring_refcnt;
+	wait_queue_head_t waiting_to_unmap;
 
 	/* Frontend feature information. */
 	u8 can_sg:1;
@@ -120,6 +122,8 @@ void xenvif_free(struct xenvif *vif);
 
 void xenvif_get(struct xenvif *vif);
 void xenvif_put(struct xenvif *vif);
+void xenvif_get_rings(struct xenvif *vif);
+void xenvif_put_rings(struct xenvif *vif);
 
 int xenvif_xenbus_init(void);
 
diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c b/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c
index 540a796593a34..7e3817a55e778 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c
@@ -44,12 +44,23 @@ void xenvif_get(struct xenvif *vif)
 	atomic_inc(&vif->refcnt);
 }
 
+void xenvif_get_rings(struct xenvif *vif)
+{
+	atomic_inc(&vif->ring_refcnt);
+}
+
 void xenvif_put(struct xenvif *vif)
 {
 	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&vif->refcnt))
 		wake_up(&vif->waiting_to_free);
 }
 
+void xenvif_put_rings(struct xenvif *vif)
+{
+	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&vif->ring_refcnt))
+		wake_up(&vif->waiting_to_unmap);
+}
+
 int xenvif_schedulable(struct xenvif *vif)
 {
 	return netif_running(vif->dev) && netif_carrier_ok(vif->dev);
@@ -91,6 +102,7 @@ static int xenvif_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	/* Reserve ring slots for the worst-case number of fragments. */
 	vif->rx_req_cons_peek += xen_netbk_count_skb_slots(vif, skb);
 	xenvif_get(vif);
+	xenvif_get_rings(vif);
 
 	if (vif->can_queue && xen_netbk_must_stop_queue(vif))
 		netif_stop_queue(dev);
@@ -271,6 +283,7 @@ struct xenvif *xenvif_alloc(struct device *parent, domid_t domid,
 	vif->dev = dev;
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&vif->schedule_list);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&vif->notify_list);
+	init_waitqueue_head(&vif->waiting_to_unmap);
 
 	vif->credit_bytes = vif->remaining_credit = ~0UL;
 	vif->credit_usec  = 0UL;
@@ -365,12 +378,12 @@ void xenvif_disconnect(struct xenvif *vif)
 	if (netif_carrier_ok(vif->dev))
 		xenvif_carrier_off(vif);
 
+	disable_irq(vif->irq);
+	xen_netbk_unmap_frontend_rings(vif);
 	if (vif->irq) {
 		unbind_from_irqhandler(vif->irq, vif);
 		vif->irq = 0;
 	}
-
-	xen_netbk_unmap_frontend_rings(vif);
 }
 
 void xenvif_free(struct xenvif *vif)
diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c b/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c
index 70b830f6c4bf3..1595f818b8c01 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c
@@ -814,6 +814,7 @@ static void xen_netbk_rx_action(struct xen_netbk *netbk)
 			xenvif_put(vif);
 		npo.meta_cons += sco->meta_slots_used;
 		dev_kfree_skb(skb);
+		xenvif_put_rings(vif);
 	}
 
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(vif, tmp, &notify, notify_list) {
@@ -1864,6 +1865,9 @@ static int xen_netbk_kthread(void *data)
 
 void xen_netbk_unmap_frontend_rings(struct xenvif *vif)
 {
+	atomic_dec(&vif->ring_refcnt);
+	wait_event(vif->waiting_to_unmap, atomic_read(&vif->ring_refcnt) == 0);
+
 	if (vif->tx.sring)
 		xenbus_unmap_ring_vfree(xenvif_to_xenbus_device(vif),
 					vif->tx.sring);
@@ -1882,6 +1886,8 @@ int xen_netbk_map_frontend_rings(struct xenvif *vif,
 
 	int err = -ENOMEM;
 
+	atomic_set(&vif->ring_refcnt, 1);
+
 	err = xenbus_map_ring_valloc(xenvif_to_xenbus_device(vif),
 				     tx_ring_ref, &addr);
 	if (err)