diff --git a/drivers/char/ttyprintk.c b/drivers/char/ttyprintk.c
index 67549ce88cc9..774748497ace 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ttyprintk.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ttyprintk.c
@@ -18,10 +18,11 @@
 #include <linux/serial.h>
 #include <linux/tty.h>
 #include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/spinlock.h>
 
 struct ttyprintk_port {
 	struct tty_port port;
-	struct mutex port_write_mutex;
+	spinlock_t spinlock;
 };
 
 static struct ttyprintk_port tpk_port;
@@ -100,11 +101,12 @@ static int tpk_open(struct tty_struct *tty, struct file *filp)
 static void tpk_close(struct tty_struct *tty, struct file *filp)
 {
 	struct ttyprintk_port *tpkp = tty->driver_data;
+	unsigned long flags;
 
-	mutex_lock(&tpkp->port_write_mutex);
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&tpkp->spinlock, flags);
 	/* flush tpk_printk buffer */
 	tpk_printk(NULL, 0);
-	mutex_unlock(&tpkp->port_write_mutex);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tpkp->spinlock, flags);
 
 	tty_port_close(&tpkp->port, tty, filp);
 }
@@ -116,13 +118,14 @@ static int tpk_write(struct tty_struct *tty,
 		const unsigned char *buf, int count)
 {
 	struct ttyprintk_port *tpkp = tty->driver_data;
+	unsigned long flags;
 	int ret;
 
 
 	/* exclusive use of tpk_printk within this tty */
-	mutex_lock(&tpkp->port_write_mutex);
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&tpkp->spinlock, flags);
 	ret = tpk_printk(buf, count);
-	mutex_unlock(&tpkp->port_write_mutex);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&tpkp->spinlock, flags);
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -172,7 +175,7 @@ static int __init ttyprintk_init(void)
 {
 	int ret = -ENOMEM;
 
-	mutex_init(&tpk_port.port_write_mutex);
+	spin_lock_init(&tpk_port.spinlock);
 
 	ttyprintk_driver = tty_alloc_driver(1,
 			TTY_DRIVER_RESET_TERMIOS |