diff --git a/drivers/nvme/host/core.c b/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
index 3a63d58d2ca9..65f3f1a34b6b 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/host/core.c
@@ -2572,6 +2572,9 @@ void nvme_remove_namespaces(struct nvme_ctrl *ctrl)
 {
 	struct nvme_ns *ns, *next;
 
+	/* prevent racing with ns scanning */
+	flush_work(&ctrl->scan_work);
+
 	/*
 	 * The dead states indicates the controller was not gracefully
 	 * disconnected. In that case, we won't be able to flush any data while
@@ -2743,7 +2746,6 @@ void nvme_stop_ctrl(struct nvme_ctrl *ctrl)
 {
 	nvme_stop_keep_alive(ctrl);
 	flush_work(&ctrl->async_event_work);
-	flush_work(&ctrl->scan_work);
 	cancel_work_sync(&ctrl->fw_act_work);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(nvme_stop_ctrl);