diff --git a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
index 511d504913522..0f90086327fc2 100644
--- a/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
+++ b/drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
@@ -214,9 +214,9 @@ static void create_mkey_callback(int status, struct mlx5_async_work *context)
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&ent->mkeys_queue.lock, flags);
 	push_mkey_locked(ent, mkey_out->mkey);
+	ent->pending--;
 	/* If we are doing fill_to_high_water then keep going. */
 	queue_adjust_cache_locked(ent);
-	ent->pending--;
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&ent->mkeys_queue.lock, flags);
 	kfree(mkey_out);
 }