diff --git a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
index 0a886399f9da..5ed8e95589fb 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_msghandler.c
@@ -4848,8 +4848,15 @@ restart:
 			if (newmsg->recv_msg)
 				deliver_err_response(intf,
 						     newmsg->recv_msg, cc);
-			else
-				ipmi_free_smi_msg(newmsg);
+			if (!run_to_completion)
+				spin_lock_irqsave(&intf->xmit_msgs_lock,
+						  flags);
+			intf->curr_msg = NULL;
+			if (!run_to_completion)
+				spin_unlock_irqrestore(&intf->xmit_msgs_lock,
+						       flags);
+			ipmi_free_smi_msg(newmsg);
+			newmsg = NULL;
 			goto restart;
 		}
 	}