diff --git a/drivers/gpu/msm/kgsl.c b/drivers/gpu/msm/kgsl.c
index 8b0e263bf73e..38b238639e16 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/msm/kgsl.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/msm/kgsl.c
@@ -997,16 +997,15 @@ static void kgsl_process_private_close(struct kgsl_device_private *dev_priv,
 	list_del(&private->list);
 	write_unlock(&kgsl_driver.proclist_lock);
 
+	debugfs_remove_recursive(private->debug_root);
+
 	/*
-	 * Unlock the mutex before releasing the memory and the debugfs
-	 * nodes - this prevents deadlocks with the IOMMU and debugfs
-	 * locks.
+	 * Unlock the mutex before releasing the memory - this prevents a
+	 * deadlock with the IOMMU mutex if a page fault occurs.
 	 */
 	mutex_unlock(&kgsl_driver.process_mutex);
 
 	process_release_memory(private);
-	debugfs_remove_recursive(private->debug_root);
-
 	kgsl_process_private_put(private);
 }