diff --git a/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c b/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c
index c439a5a1e6c078e71bda4ea756480b1344507707..d4cca5bdaf1c60d40ba45b6c1815f2a6d98046af 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/serial/serial_core.c
@@ -205,10 +205,15 @@ static int uart_port_startup(struct tty_struct *tty, struct uart_state *state,
 	if (!state->xmit.buf) {
 		state->xmit.buf = (unsigned char *) page;
 		uart_circ_clear(&state->xmit);
+		uart_port_unlock(uport, flags);
 	} else {
+		uart_port_unlock(uport, flags);
+		/*
+		 * Do not free() the page under the port lock, see
+		 * uart_shutdown().
+		 */
 		free_page(page);
 	}
-	uart_port_unlock(uport, flags);
 
 	retval = uport->ops->startup(uport);
 	if (retval == 0) {
@@ -268,6 +273,7 @@ static void uart_shutdown(struct tty_struct *tty, struct uart_state *state)
 	struct uart_port *uport = uart_port_check(state);
 	struct tty_port *port = &state->port;
 	unsigned long flags = 0;
+	char *xmit_buf = NULL;
 
 	/*
 	 * Set the TTY IO error marker
@@ -298,14 +304,18 @@ static void uart_shutdown(struct tty_struct *tty, struct uart_state *state)
 	tty_port_set_suspended(port, 0);
 
 	/*
-	 * Free the transmit buffer page.
+	 * Do not free() the transmit buffer page under the port lock since
+	 * this can create various circular locking scenarios. For instance,
+	 * console driver may need to allocate/free a debug object, which
+	 * can endup in printk() recursion.
 	 */
 	uart_port_lock(state, flags);
-	if (state->xmit.buf) {
-		free_page((unsigned long)state->xmit.buf);
-		state->xmit.buf = NULL;
-	}
+	xmit_buf = state->xmit.buf;
+	state->xmit.buf = NULL;
 	uart_port_unlock(uport, flags);
+
+	if (xmit_buf)
+		free_page((unsigned long)xmit_buf);
 }
 
 /**