int producer, count = 0;
        struct list_head *head;
 
+       spin_lock(&rds_ring->lock);
+
        producer = rds_ring->producer;
 
-       spin_lock(&rds_ring->lock);
        head = &rds_ring->free_list;
        while (!list_empty(head)) {
 
 
                producer = get_next_index(producer, rds_ring->num_desc);
        }
-       spin_unlock(&rds_ring->lock);
 
        if (count) {
                rds_ring->producer = producer;
                writel((producer-1) & (rds_ring->num_desc-1),
                                rds_ring->crb_rcv_producer);
        }
+       spin_unlock(&rds_ring->lock);
 }
 
 static void
        int producer, count = 0;
        struct list_head *head;
 
-       producer = rds_ring->producer;
        if (!spin_trylock(&rds_ring->lock))
                return;
 
+       producer = rds_ring->producer;
+
        head = &rds_ring->free_list;
        while (!list_empty(head)) {