diff --git a/kernel/rcu/rcuscale.c b/kernel/rcu/rcuscale.c
index 5c8449a8827a..a3e86c4843d3 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/rcuscale.c
+++ b/kernel/rcu/rcuscale.c
@@ -609,8 +609,7 @@ static int compute_real(int n)
 static int
 rcu_scale_shutdown(void *arg)
 {
-	wait_event(shutdown_wq,
-		   atomic_read(&n_rcu_scale_writer_finished) >= nrealwriters);
+	wait_event_idle(shutdown_wq, atomic_read(&n_rcu_scale_writer_finished) >= nrealwriters);
 	smp_mb(); /* Wake before output. */
 	rcu_scale_cleanup();
 	kernel_power_off();
@@ -736,8 +735,8 @@ kfree_scale_cleanup(void)
 static int
 kfree_scale_shutdown(void *arg)
 {
-	wait_event(shutdown_wq,
-		   atomic_read(&n_kfree_scale_thread_ended) >= kfree_nrealthreads);
+	wait_event_idle(shutdown_wq,
+			atomic_read(&n_kfree_scale_thread_ended) >= kfree_nrealthreads);
 
 	smp_mb(); /* Wake before output. */