diff --git a/drivers/tty/tty_io.c b/drivers/tty/tty_io.c
index 198451fa9e5d..33f80b07f113 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/tty_io.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/tty_io.c
@@ -1546,6 +1546,9 @@ struct tty_struct *tty_init_dev(struct tty_driver *driver, int idx)
 			"%s: %s driver does not set tty->port. This will crash the kernel later. Fix the driver!\n",
 			__func__, tty->driver->name);
 
+	retval = tty_ldisc_lock(tty, 5 * HZ);
+	if (retval)
+		goto err_release_lock;
 	tty->port->itty = tty;
 
 	/*
@@ -1556,6 +1559,7 @@ struct tty_struct *tty_init_dev(struct tty_driver *driver, int idx)
 	retval = tty_ldisc_setup(tty, tty->link);
 	if (retval)
 		goto err_release_tty;
+	tty_ldisc_unlock(tty);
 	/* Return the tty locked so that it cannot vanish under the caller */
 	return tty;
 
@@ -1569,9 +1573,11 @@ struct tty_struct *tty_init_dev(struct tty_driver *driver, int idx)
 
 	/* call the tty release_tty routine to clean out this slot */
 err_release_tty:
-	tty_unlock(tty);
+	tty_ldisc_unlock(tty);
 	printk_ratelimited(KERN_INFO "tty_init_dev: ldisc open failed, "
 				 "clearing slot %d\n", idx);
+err_release_lock:
+	tty_unlock(tty);
 	release_tty(tty, idx);
 	return ERR_PTR(retval);
 }
diff --git a/drivers/tty/tty_ldisc.c b/drivers/tty/tty_ldisc.c
index d9e013dc2c08..eb1b44c87b6c 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/tty_ldisc.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/tty_ldisc.c
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ static inline void __tty_ldisc_unlock(struct tty_struct *tty)
 	ldsem_up_write(&tty->ldisc_sem);
 }
 
-static int __lockfunc
+int __lockfunc
 tty_ldisc_lock(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned long timeout)
 {
 	int ret;
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ tty_ldisc_lock(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned long timeout)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static void tty_ldisc_unlock(struct tty_struct *tty)
+void tty_ldisc_unlock(struct tty_struct *tty)
 {
 	clear_bit(TTY_LDISC_HALTED, &tty->flags);
 	__tty_ldisc_unlock(tty);
diff --git a/include/linux/tty.h b/include/linux/tty.h
index 812cdd8cff22..bac8e6dc8689 100644
--- a/include/linux/tty.h
+++ b/include/linux/tty.h
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ extern struct tty_struct *get_current_tty(void);
 /* tty_io.c */
 extern int __init tty_init(void);
 extern const char *tty_name(const struct tty_struct *tty);
+extern int tty_ldisc_lock(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned long timeout);
+extern void tty_ldisc_unlock(struct tty_struct *tty);
 #else
 static inline void console_init(void)
 { }