diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/sfc/mcdi.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/sfc/mcdi.c
index be6bfd6b7ec75..50baf62b2cbc6 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/sfc/mcdi.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/sfc/mcdi.c
@@ -163,9 +163,9 @@ static void efx_mcdi_send_request(struct efx_nic *efx, unsigned cmd,
 	/* Serialise with efx_mcdi_ev_cpl() and efx_mcdi_ev_death() */
 	spin_lock_bh(&mcdi->iface_lock);
 	++mcdi->seqno;
+	seqno = mcdi->seqno & SEQ_MASK;
 	spin_unlock_bh(&mcdi->iface_lock);
 
-	seqno = mcdi->seqno & SEQ_MASK;
 	xflags = 0;
 	if (mcdi->mode == MCDI_MODE_EVENTS)
 		xflags |= MCDI_HEADER_XFLAGS_EVREQ;