diff --git a/mm/memory_hotplug.c b/mm/memory_hotplug.c
index abc10dcbc9d5..aae7ff485671 100644
--- a/mm/memory_hotplug.c
+++ b/mm/memory_hotplug.c
@@ -1902,8 +1902,6 @@ void __ref __remove_memory(int nid, u64 start, u64 size)
 
 	BUG_ON(check_hotplug_memory_range(start, size));
 
-	mem_hotplug_begin();
-
 	/*
 	 * All memory blocks must be offlined before removing memory.  Check
 	 * whether all memory blocks in question are offline and trigger a BUG()
@@ -1919,9 +1917,14 @@ void __ref __remove_memory(int nid, u64 start, u64 size)
 	memblock_free(start, size);
 	memblock_remove(start, size);
 
-	/* remove memory block devices before removing memory */
+	/*
+	 * Memory block device removal under the device_hotplug_lock is
+	 * a barrier against racing online attempts.
+	 */
 	remove_memory_block_devices(start, size);
 
+	mem_hotplug_begin();
+
 	arch_remove_memory(nid, start, size, NULL);
 	__release_memory_resource(start, size);