diff --git a/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c b/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c
index bc4462694aaf..5cb7e04fa4ba 100644
--- a/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c
+++ b/sound/pci/hda/hda_intel.c
@@ -2155,7 +2155,20 @@ static void azx_remove(struct pci_dev *pci)
 		/* cancel the pending probing work */
 		chip = card->private_data;
 		hda = container_of(chip, struct hda_intel, chip);
+		/* FIXME: below is an ugly workaround.
+		 * Both device_release_driver() and driver_probe_device()
+		 * take *both* the device's and its parent's lock before
+		 * calling the remove() and probe() callbacks.  The codec
+		 * probe takes the locks of both the codec itself and its
+		 * parent, i.e. the PCI controller dev.  Meanwhile, when
+		 * the PCI controller is unbound, it takes its lock, too
+		 * ==> ouch, a deadlock!
+		 * As a workaround, we unlock temporarily here the controller
+		 * device during cancel_work_sync() call.
+		 */
+		device_unlock(&pci->dev);
 		cancel_work_sync(&hda->probe_work);
+		device_lock(&pci->dev);
 
 		snd_card_free(card);
 	}