diff --git a/block/blk-mq.c b/block/blk-mq.c
index 65340847b51e..e027b8ed6030 100644
--- a/block/blk-mq.c
+++ b/block/blk-mq.c
@@ -628,7 +628,20 @@ static void blk_mq_rq_timer(unsigned long priv)
 	};
 	int i;
 
-	if (blk_queue_enter(q, GFP_NOWAIT))
+	/* A deadlock might occur if a request is stuck requiring a
+	 * timeout at the same time a queue freeze is waiting
+	 * completion, since the timeout code would not be able to
+	 * acquire the queue reference here.
+	 *
+	 * That's why we don't use blk_queue_enter here; instead, we use
+	 * percpu_ref_tryget directly, because we need to be able to
+	 * obtain a reference even in the short window between the queue
+	 * starting to freeze, by dropping the first reference in
+	 * blk_mq_freeze_queue_start, and the moment the last request is
+	 * consumed, marked by the instant q_usage_counter reaches
+	 * zero.
+	 */
+	if (!percpu_ref_tryget(&q->q_usage_counter))
 		return;
 
 	blk_mq_queue_tag_busy_iter(q, blk_mq_check_expired, &data);