diff --git a/htc/htc_send.c b/htc/htc_send.c
index 4563b4a86f74..149fb500cfc7 100644
--- a/htc/htc_send.c
+++ b/htc/htc_send.c
@@ -1042,8 +1042,7 @@ static HTC_SEND_QUEUE_RESULT htc_try_send(HTC_TARGET *target,
 	}
 
 	/* increment tx processing count on entry */
-	qdf_atomic_inc(&pEndpoint->TxProcessCount);
-	if (qdf_atomic_read(&pEndpoint->TxProcessCount) > 1) {
+	if (qdf_atomic_inc_return(&pEndpoint->TxProcessCount) > 1) {
 		/* another thread or task is draining the TX queues on this endpoint
 		 * that thread will reset the tx processing count when the queue is drained */
 		qdf_atomic_dec(&pEndpoint->TxProcessCount);
@@ -1122,10 +1121,11 @@ static HTC_SEND_QUEUE_RESULT htc_try_send(HTC_TARGET *target,
 
 	}
 
-	UNLOCK_HTC_TX(target);
 	/* done with this endpoint, we can clear the count */
 	qdf_atomic_init(&pEndpoint->TxProcessCount);
 
+	UNLOCK_HTC_TX(target);
+
 	AR_DEBUG_PRINTF(ATH_DEBUG_SEND, ("-htc_try_send:  \n"));
 
 	return HTC_SEND_QUEUE_OK;