diff --git a/drivers/nvme/target/core.c b/drivers/nvme/target/core.c
index aecb5853f8da..560b6bbb6c44 100644
--- a/drivers/nvme/target/core.c
+++ b/drivers/nvme/target/core.c
@@ -695,11 +695,10 @@ static void nvmet_update_sq_head(struct nvmet_req *req)
 	if (req->sq->size) {
 		u32 old_sqhd, new_sqhd;
 
+		old_sqhd = READ_ONCE(req->sq->sqhd);
 		do {
-			old_sqhd = req->sq->sqhd;
 			new_sqhd = (old_sqhd + 1) % req->sq->size;
-		} while (cmpxchg(&req->sq->sqhd, old_sqhd, new_sqhd) !=
-					old_sqhd);
+		} while (!try_cmpxchg(&req->sq->sqhd, &old_sqhd, new_sqhd));
 	}
 	req->cqe->sq_head = cpu_to_le16(req->sq->sqhd & 0x0000FFFF);
 }