diff --git a/include/linux/bpfilter.h b/include/linux/bpfilter.h
index 8ebcbdd70bdc..d815622cd31e 100644
--- a/include/linux/bpfilter.h
+++ b/include/linux/bpfilter.h
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ int bpfilter_ip_get_sockopt(struct sock *sk, int optname, char __user *optval,
 			    int __user *optlen);
 struct bpfilter_umh_ops {
 	struct umh_info info;
+	/* since ip_getsockopt() can run in parallel, serialize access to umh */
+	struct mutex lock;
 	int (*sockopt)(struct sock *sk, int optname,
 		       char __user *optval,
 		       unsigned int optlen, bool is_set);
diff --git a/net/bpfilter/bpfilter_kern.c b/net/bpfilter/bpfilter_kern.c
index 33d6b159ba88..eedb83863cb0 100644
--- a/net/bpfilter/bpfilter_kern.c
+++ b/net/bpfilter/bpfilter_kern.c
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@
 extern char bpfilter_umh_start;
 extern char bpfilter_umh_end;
 
-/* since ip_getsockopt() can run in parallel, serialize access to umh */
-static DEFINE_MUTEX(bpfilter_lock);
-
 static void shutdown_umh(void)
 {
 	struct task_struct *tsk;
@@ -36,13 +33,6 @@ static void __stop_umh(void)
 		shutdown_umh();
 }
 
-static void stop_umh(void)
-{
-	mutex_lock(&bpfilter_lock);
-	__stop_umh();
-	mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_lock);
-}
-
 static int __bpfilter_process_sockopt(struct sock *sk, int optname,
 				      char __user *optval,
 				      unsigned int optlen, bool is_set)
@@ -58,7 +48,6 @@ static int __bpfilter_process_sockopt(struct sock *sk, int optname,
 	req.cmd = optname;
 	req.addr = (long __force __user)optval;
 	req.len = optlen;
-	mutex_lock(&bpfilter_lock);
 	if (!bpfilter_ops.info.pid)
 		goto out;
 	n = __kernel_write(bpfilter_ops.info.pipe_to_umh, &req, sizeof(req),
@@ -80,7 +69,6 @@ static int __bpfilter_process_sockopt(struct sock *sk, int optname,
 	}
 	ret = reply.status;
 out:
-	mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_lock);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -99,7 +87,7 @@ static int start_umh(void)
 
 	/* health check that usermode process started correctly */
 	if (__bpfilter_process_sockopt(NULL, 0, NULL, 0, 0) != 0) {
-		stop_umh();
+		shutdown_umh();
 		return -EFAULT;
 	}
 
@@ -110,22 +98,26 @@ static int __init load_umh(void)
 {
 	int err;
 
+	mutex_lock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 	err = start_umh();
 	if (!err && IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_INET)) {
 		bpfilter_ops.sockopt = &__bpfilter_process_sockopt;
 		bpfilter_ops.start = &start_umh;
 	}
+	mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 
 	return err;
 }
 
 static void __exit fini_umh(void)
 {
+	mutex_lock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_INET)) {
+		shutdown_umh();
 		bpfilter_ops.start = NULL;
 		bpfilter_ops.sockopt = NULL;
 	}
-	stop_umh();
+	mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 }
 module_init(load_umh);
 module_exit(fini_umh);
diff --git a/net/ipv4/bpfilter/sockopt.c b/net/ipv4/bpfilter/sockopt.c
index de84ede4e765..2611f7a7f3d1 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/bpfilter/sockopt.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/bpfilter/sockopt.c
@@ -14,10 +14,12 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(bpfilter_ops);
 
 static void bpfilter_umh_cleanup(struct umh_info *info)
 {
+	mutex_lock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 	bpfilter_ops.stop = true;
 	fput(info->pipe_to_umh);
 	fput(info->pipe_from_umh);
 	info->pid = 0;
+	mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 }
 
 static int bpfilter_mbox_request(struct sock *sk, int optname,
@@ -26,20 +28,28 @@ static int bpfilter_mbox_request(struct sock *sk, int optname,
 {
 	int err;
 
+	mutex_lock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 	if (!bpfilter_ops.sockopt) {
+		mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 		err = request_module("bpfilter");
+		mutex_lock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 
 		if (err)
-			return err;
-		if (!bpfilter_ops.sockopt)
-			return -ECHILD;
+			goto out;
+		if (!bpfilter_ops.sockopt) {
+			err = -ECHILD;
+			goto out;
+		}
 	}
 	if (bpfilter_ops.stop) {
 		err = bpfilter_ops.start();
 		if (err)
-			return err;
+			goto out;
 	}
-	return bpfilter_ops.sockopt(sk, optname, optval, optlen, is_set);
+	err =  bpfilter_ops.sockopt(sk, optname, optval, optlen, is_set);
+out:
+	mutex_unlock(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
+	return err;
 }
 
 int bpfilter_ip_set_sockopt(struct sock *sk, int optname, char __user *optval,
@@ -61,6 +71,7 @@ int bpfilter_ip_get_sockopt(struct sock *sk, int optname, char __user *optval,
 
 static int __init bpfilter_sockopt_init(void)
 {
+	mutex_init(&bpfilter_ops.lock);
 	bpfilter_ops.stop = true;
 	bpfilter_ops.info.cmdline = "bpfilter_umh";
 	bpfilter_ops.info.cleanup = &bpfilter_umh_cleanup;
