diff --git a/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/nvhe/pkvm.c b/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/nvhe/pkvm.c
index 7ed96d64d611..e7496eb85628 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/nvhe/pkvm.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/nvhe/pkvm.c
@@ -266,7 +266,8 @@ struct pkvm_hyp_vcpu *pkvm_load_hyp_vcpu(pkvm_handle_t handle,
 	if (hyp_vm->kvm.created_vcpus <= vcpu_idx)
 		goto unlock;
 
-	hyp_vcpu = hyp_vm->vcpus[vcpu_idx];
+	/* Pairs with smp_store_release() in register_hyp_vcpu(). */
+	hyp_vcpu = smp_load_acquire(&hyp_vm->vcpus[vcpu_idx]);
 	if (!hyp_vcpu)
 		goto unlock;
 
@@ -860,12 +861,30 @@ int __pkvm_init_vm(struct kvm *host_kvm, unsigned long vm_hva,
  *	     the page-aligned size of 'struct pkvm_hyp_vcpu'.
  * Return 0 on success, negative error code on failure.
  */
+static int register_hyp_vcpu(struct pkvm_hyp_vm *hyp_vm,
+			      struct pkvm_hyp_vcpu *hyp_vcpu)
+{
+	unsigned int idx = hyp_vcpu->vcpu.vcpu_idx;
+
+	if (idx >= hyp_vm->kvm.created_vcpus)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	if (hyp_vm->vcpus[idx])
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	/*
+	 * Ensure the hyp_vcpu is initialised before publishing it to
+	 * the vCPU-load path via 'hyp_vm->vcpus[]'.
+	 */
+	smp_store_release(&hyp_vm->vcpus[idx], hyp_vcpu);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 int __pkvm_init_vcpu(pkvm_handle_t handle, struct kvm_vcpu *host_vcpu,
 		     unsigned long vcpu_hva)
 {
 	struct pkvm_hyp_vcpu *hyp_vcpu;
 	struct pkvm_hyp_vm *hyp_vm;
-	unsigned int idx;
 	int ret;
 
 	hyp_vcpu = map_donated_memory(vcpu_hva, sizeof(*hyp_vcpu));
@@ -884,18 +903,11 @@ int __pkvm_init_vcpu(pkvm_handle_t handle, struct kvm_vcpu *host_vcpu,
 	if (ret)
 		goto unlock;
 
-	idx = hyp_vcpu->vcpu.vcpu_idx;
-	if (idx >= hyp_vm->kvm.created_vcpus) {
-		ret = -EINVAL;
-		goto unlock;
+	ret = register_hyp_vcpu(hyp_vm, hyp_vcpu);
+	if (ret) {
+		unpin_host_vcpu(host_vcpu);
+		unpin_host_sve_state(hyp_vcpu);
 	}
-
-	if (hyp_vm->vcpus[idx]) {
-		ret = -EINVAL;
-		goto unlock;
-	}
-
-	hyp_vm->vcpus[idx] = hyp_vcpu;
 unlock:
 	hyp_spin_unlock(&vm_table_lock);