diff --git a/arch/mips/kernel/smp.c b/arch/mips/kernel/smp.c
index 3cd2f70d1c1853dfb97f62c75f364579eac08ae5..88be966d3e619785fdb96cc5705443f1cb607a32 100644
--- a/arch/mips/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/mips/kernel/smp.c
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(cpu_sibling_map);
 cpumask_t cpu_core_map[NR_CPUS] __read_mostly;
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(cpu_core_map);
 
+static DECLARE_COMPLETION(cpu_starting);
 static DECLARE_COMPLETION(cpu_running);
 
 /*
@@ -374,6 +375,12 @@ asmlinkage void start_secondary(void)
 	cpumask_set_cpu(cpu, &cpu_coherent_mask);
 	notify_cpu_starting(cpu);
 
+	/* Notify boot CPU that we're starting & ready to sync counters */
+	complete(&cpu_starting);
+
+	synchronise_count_slave(cpu);
+
+	/* The CPU is running and counters synchronised, now mark it online */
 	set_cpu_online(cpu, true);
 
 	set_cpu_sibling_map(cpu);
@@ -381,8 +388,11 @@ asmlinkage void start_secondary(void)
 
 	calculate_cpu_foreign_map();
 
+	/*
+	 * Notify boot CPU that we're up & online and it can safely return
+	 * from __cpu_up
+	 */
 	complete(&cpu_running);
-	synchronise_count_slave(cpu);
 
 	/*
 	 * irq will be enabled in ->smp_finish(), enabling it too early
@@ -445,17 +455,17 @@ int __cpu_up(unsigned int cpu, struct task_struct *tidle)
 	if (err)
 		return err;
 
-	/*
-	 * We must check for timeout here, as the CPU will not be marked
-	 * online until the counters are synchronised.
-	 */
-	if (!wait_for_completion_timeout(&cpu_running,
+	/* Wait for CPU to start and be ready to sync counters */
+	if (!wait_for_completion_timeout(&cpu_starting,
 					 msecs_to_jiffies(1000))) {
 		pr_crit("CPU%u: failed to start\n", cpu);
 		return -EIO;
 	}
 
 	synchronise_count_master(cpu);
+
+	/* Wait for CPU to finish startup & mark itself online before return */
+	wait_for_completion(&cpu_running);
 	return 0;
 }