diff --git a/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-recovery.c b/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-recovery.c
index 8036c3eb6372..2526722304bb 100644
--- a/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-recovery.c
+++ b/drivers/lightnvm/pblk-recovery.c
@@ -966,12 +966,14 @@ next:
 		}
 	}
 
-	spin_lock(&l_mg->free_lock);
 	if (!open_lines) {
+		spin_lock(&l_mg->free_lock);
 		WARN_ON_ONCE(!test_and_clear_bit(meta_line,
 							&l_mg->meta_bitmap));
+		spin_unlock(&l_mg->free_lock);
 		pblk_line_replace_data(pblk);
 	} else {
+		spin_lock(&l_mg->free_lock);
 		/* Allocate next line for preparation */
 		l_mg->data_next = pblk_line_get(pblk);
 		if (l_mg->data_next) {
@@ -979,8 +981,8 @@ next:
 			l_mg->data_next->type = PBLK_LINETYPE_DATA;
 			is_next = 1;
 		}
+		spin_unlock(&l_mg->free_lock);
 	}
-	spin_unlock(&l_mg->free_lock);
 
 	if (is_next)
 		pblk_line_erase(pblk, l_mg->data_next);