diff --git a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-driver.h b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-driver.h
index 28c490b1b64e..8812a5ec635f 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-driver.h
+++ b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-driver.h
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ struct cx18_buffer {
 
 struct cx18_queue {
 	struct list_head list;
-	u32 buffers;
+	atomic_t buffers;
 	u32 bytesused;
 };
 
diff --git a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-fileops.c b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-fileops.c
index 2fdbfb994dd5..eb0144f95562 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-fileops.c
+++ b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-fileops.c
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ static struct cx18_buffer *cx18_get_buffer(struct cx18_stream *s, int non_block,
 		prepare_to_wait(&s->waitq, &wait, TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
 		/* New buffers might have become available before we were added
 		   to the waitqueue */
-		if (!s->q_full.buffers)
+		if (!atomic_read(&s->q_full.buffers))
 			schedule();
 		finish_wait(&s->waitq, &wait);
 		if (signal_pending(current)) {
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ unsigned int cx18_v4l2_enc_poll(struct file *filp, poll_table *wait)
 	CX18_DEBUG_HI_FILE("Encoder poll\n");
 	poll_wait(filp, &s->waitq, wait);
 
-	if (s->q_full.buffers || s->q_io.buffers)
+	if (atomic_read(&s->q_full.buffers) || atomic_read(&s->q_io.buffers))
 		return POLLIN | POLLRDNORM;
 	if (eof)
 		return POLLHUP;
diff --git a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-ioctl.c b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-ioctl.c
index a7f839631d6a..5325c7aacaf3 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-ioctl.c
+++ b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-ioctl.c
@@ -731,7 +731,8 @@ static int cx18_log_status(struct file *file, void *fh)
 			continue;
 		CX18_INFO("Stream %s: status 0x%04lx, %d%% of %d KiB (%d buffers) in use\n",
 			  s->name, s->s_flags,
-			  (s->buffers - s->q_free.buffers) * 100 / s->buffers,
+			  (s->buffers - atomic_read(&s->q_free.buffers))
+				* 100 / s->buffers,
 			  (s->buffers * s->buf_size) / 1024, s->buffers);
 	}
 	CX18_INFO("Read MPEG/VBI: %lld/%lld bytes\n",
diff --git a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-queue.c b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-queue.c
index 4f3bd43ba802..a33ba04a2686 100644
--- a/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-queue.c
+++ b/drivers/media/video/cx18/cx18-queue.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ void cx18_buf_swap(struct cx18_buffer *buf)
 void cx18_queue_init(struct cx18_queue *q)
 {
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&q->list);
-	q->buffers = 0;
+	atomic_set(&q->buffers, 0);
 	q->bytesused = 0;
 }
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ void cx18_enqueue(struct cx18_stream *s, struct cx18_buffer *buf,
 	}
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&s->qlock, flags);
 	list_add_tail(&buf->list, &q->list);
-	q->buffers++;
+	atomic_inc(&q->buffers);
 	q->bytesused += buf->bytesused - buf->readpos;
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&s->qlock, flags);
 }
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ struct cx18_buffer *cx18_dequeue(struct cx18_stream *s, struct cx18_queue *q)
 	if (!list_empty(&q->list)) {
 		buf = list_entry(q->list.next, struct cx18_buffer, list);
 		list_del_init(q->list.next);
-		q->buffers--;
+		atomic_dec(&q->buffers);
 		q->bytesused -= buf->bytesused - buf->readpos;
 	}
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&s->qlock, flags);
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ struct cx18_buffer *cx18_queue_get_buf_irq(struct cx18_stream *s, u32 id,
 		/* the transport buffers are handled differently,
 		   they are not moved to the full queue */
 		if (s->type != CX18_ENC_STREAM_TYPE_TS) {
-			s->q_free.buffers--;
-			s->q_full.buffers++;
+			atomic_dec(&s->q_free.buffers);
+			atomic_inc(&s->q_full.buffers);
 			s->q_full.bytesused += buf->bytesused;
 			list_move_tail(&buf->list, &s->q_full.list);
 		}
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ static void cx18_queue_flush(struct cx18_stream *s, struct cx18_queue *q)
 		buf = list_entry(q->list.next, struct cx18_buffer, list);
 		list_move_tail(q->list.next, &s->q_free.list);
 		buf->bytesused = buf->readpos = buf->b_flags = 0;
-		s->q_free.buffers++;
+		atomic_inc(&s->q_free.buffers);
 	}
 	cx18_queue_init(q);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&s->qlock, flags);