diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_cursor.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_cursor.c
index 2ade8fdd9bdd..b648be744cf2 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_cursor.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/display/intel_cursor.c
@@ -255,7 +255,6 @@ static void i845_cursor_update_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
 {
 	struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv = to_i915(plane->base.dev);
 	u32 cntl = 0, base = 0, pos = 0, size = 0;
-	unsigned long irqflags;
 
 	if (plane_state && plane_state->uapi.visible) {
 		unsigned int width = drm_rect_width(&plane_state->uapi.dst);
@@ -270,8 +269,6 @@ static void i845_cursor_update_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
 		pos = intel_cursor_position(plane_state);
 	}
 
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&dev_priv->uncore.lock, irqflags);
-
 	/* On these chipsets we can only modify the base/size/stride
 	 * whilst the cursor is disabled.
 	 */
@@ -290,8 +287,6 @@ static void i845_cursor_update_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
 	} else {
 		intel_de_write_fw(dev_priv, CURPOS(PIPE_A), pos);
 	}
-
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&dev_priv->uncore.lock, irqflags);
 }
 
 static void i845_cursor_disable_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
@@ -492,7 +487,6 @@ static void i9xx_cursor_update_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
 	struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv = to_i915(plane->base.dev);
 	enum pipe pipe = plane->pipe;
 	u32 cntl = 0, base = 0, pos = 0, fbc_ctl = 0;
-	unsigned long irqflags;
 
 	if (plane_state && plane_state->uapi.visible) {
 		int width = drm_rect_width(&plane_state->uapi.dst);
@@ -508,8 +502,6 @@ static void i9xx_cursor_update_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
 		pos = intel_cursor_position(plane_state);
 	}
 
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&dev_priv->uncore.lock, irqflags);
-
 	/*
 	 * On some platforms writing CURCNTR first will also
 	 * cause CURPOS to be armed by the CURBASE write.
@@ -555,8 +547,6 @@ static void i9xx_cursor_update_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
 		intel_de_write_fw(dev_priv, CURPOS(pipe), pos);
 		intel_de_write_fw(dev_priv, CURBASE(pipe), base);
 	}
-
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&dev_priv->uncore.lock, irqflags);
 }
 
 static void i9xx_cursor_disable_arm(struct intel_plane *plane,
@@ -715,6 +705,14 @@ intel_legacy_cursor_update(struct drm_plane *_plane,
 	 */
 	crtc_state->active_planes = new_crtc_state->active_planes;
 
+	/*
+	 * Technically we should do a vblank evasion here to make
+	 * sure all the cursor registers update on the same frame.
+	 * For now just make sure the register writes happen as
+	 * quickly as possible to minimize the race window.
+	 */
+	local_irq_disable();
+
 	if (new_plane_state->uapi.visible) {
 		intel_plane_update_noarm(plane, crtc_state, new_plane_state);
 		intel_plane_update_arm(plane, crtc_state, new_plane_state);
@@ -722,6 +720,8 @@ intel_legacy_cursor_update(struct drm_plane *_plane,
 		intel_plane_disable_arm(plane, crtc_state);
 	}
 
+	local_irq_enable();
+
 	intel_plane_unpin_fb(old_plane_state);
 
 out_free: