diff --git a/drivers/vdpa/vdpa_user/vduse_dev.c b/drivers/vdpa/vdpa_user/vduse_dev.c
index 9891cd2cf712..766789a7bbfa 100644
--- a/drivers/vdpa/vdpa_user/vduse_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/vdpa/vdpa_user/vduse_dev.c
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ static void vduse_dev_reset(struct vduse_dev *dev)
 	}
 
 	scoped_guard(rwsem_write, &dev->rwsem) {
-		dev->suspended = false;
+		WRITE_ONCE(dev->suspended, false);
 		dev->status = 0;
 		dev->driver_features = 0;
 		dev->generation++;
@@ -567,11 +567,17 @@ static int vduse_vdpa_set_vq_address(struct vdpa_device *vdpa, u16 idx,
 
 static void vduse_vq_kick(struct vduse_virtqueue *vq)
 {
-	guard(rwsem_read)(&vq->dev->rwsem);
-	if (vq->dev->suspended)
+	/*
+	 * This runs in the context of the vdpa kick_vq op, which may be
+	 * atomic (e.g. virtio-blk kicks from blk-mq dispatch under
+	 * rcu_read_lock()), so dev->rwsem must not be taken here.
+	 * dev->suspended is checked under kick_lock instead and
+	 * vduse_vdpa_suspend() cycles every kick_lock after setting it.
+	 */
+	guard(spinlock)(&vq->kick_lock);
+	if (READ_ONCE(vq->dev->suspended))
 		return;
 
-	guard(spinlock)(&vq->kick_lock);
 	scoped_guard(spinlock_bh, &vq->ready_lock)
 		if (!vq->ready)
 			return;
@@ -946,7 +952,17 @@ static int vduse_vdpa_suspend(struct vdpa_device *vdpa)
 	ret = vduse_dev_msg_sync(dev, &msg);
 	if (ret == 0) {
 		scoped_guard(rwsem_write, &dev->rwsem)
-			dev->suspended = true;
+			WRITE_ONCE(dev->suspended, true);
+
+		/*
+		 * Kicks check dev->suspended under kick_lock without taking
+		 * the rwsem: cycle each kick_lock so that no kick that has
+		 * already passed the check is still in flight after this.
+		 */
+		for (u32 i = 0; i < dev->vq_num; i++) {
+			spin_lock(&dev->vqs[i]->kick_lock);
+			spin_unlock(&dev->vqs[i]->kick_lock);
+		}
 
 		cancel_work_sync(&dev->inject);
 		for (u32 i = 0; i < dev->vq_num; i++)