diff --git a/kernel/rcu/tasks.h b/kernel/rcu/tasks.h
index 79aa5d51388c..bc49698a3bcc 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/tasks.h
+++ b/kernel/rcu/tasks.h
@@ -395,7 +395,11 @@ static void call_rcu_tasks_generic(struct rcu_head *rhp, rcu_callback_t func,
 		raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore(&rtp->cbs_gbl_lock, flags);
 	}
 	rcu_read_unlock();
-	/* We can't create the thread unless interrupts are enabled. */
+	// We can't create the kthread with interrupts disabled because a
+	// scheduler spinlock might be held, so kthread creation is deferred
+	// until core_initcall() time.  Similarly, wakeups are deferred using
+	// irq_work in order to avoid potential scheduler-lock-deadlock
+	// lockdep splats.
 	if (needwake && READ_ONCE(rtp->kthread_ptr))
 		irq_work_queue(&rtpcp->rtp_irq_work);
 }