diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index fc4b5cdb6c2d..cc4a507d7ca4 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -636,8 +636,8 @@ typedef struct pglist_data {
 #endif
 #if defined(CONFIG_MEMORY_HOTPLUG) || defined(CONFIG_DEFERRED_STRUCT_PAGE_INIT)
 	/*
-	 * Must be held any time you expect node_start_pfn, node_present_pages
-	 * or node_spanned_pages stay constant.
+	 * Must be held any time you expect node_start_pfn,
+	 * node_present_pages, node_spanned_pages or nr_zones to stay constant.
 	 *
 	 * pgdat_resize_lock() and pgdat_resize_unlock() are provided to
 	 * manipulate node_size_lock without checking for CONFIG_MEMORY_HOTPLUG
diff --git a/mm/memory_hotplug.c b/mm/memory_hotplug.c
index 5f15f9c04c4a..c2b34ec602ee 100644
--- a/mm/memory_hotplug.c
+++ b/mm/memory_hotplug.c
@@ -743,14 +743,13 @@ void __ref move_pfn_range_to_zone(struct zone *zone, unsigned long start_pfn,
 	int nid = pgdat->node_id;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
-	if (zone_is_empty(zone))
-		init_currently_empty_zone(zone, start_pfn, nr_pages);
-
 	clear_zone_contiguous(zone);
 
 	/* TODO Huh pgdat is irqsave while zone is not. It used to be like that before */
 	pgdat_resize_lock(pgdat, &flags);
 	zone_span_writelock(zone);
+	if (zone_is_empty(zone))
+		init_currently_empty_zone(zone, start_pfn, nr_pages);
 	resize_zone_range(zone, start_pfn, nr_pages);
 	zone_span_writeunlock(zone);
 	resize_pgdat_range(pgdat, start_pfn, nr_pages);