diff --git a/ioport.c b/ioport.c
index d224819c6e43..c044a80dd763 100644
--- a/ioport.c
+++ b/ioport.c
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 #include "kvm/kvm.h"
 #include "kvm/util.h"
-#include "kvm/brlock.h"
 #include "kvm/rbtree-interval.h"
 #include "kvm/mutex.h"
+#include "kvm/rwsem.h"
 
 #include <linux/kvm.h>	/* for KVM_EXIT_* */
 #include <linux/types.h>
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 #define ioport_node(n) rb_entry(n, struct ioport, node)
 
+static DECLARE_RWSEM(ioport_lock);
+
 static struct rb_root		ioport_tree = RB_ROOT;
 
 static struct ioport *ioport_search(struct rb_root *root, u64 addr)
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@ int ioport__register(struct kvm *kvm, u16 port, struct ioport_operations *ops, i
 	struct ioport *entry;
 	int r;
 
-	br_write_lock(kvm);
+	down_write(&ioport_lock);
 
 	entry = ioport_search(&ioport_tree, port);
 	if (entry) {
@@ -96,7 +98,7 @@ int ioport__register(struct kvm *kvm, u16 port, struct ioport_operations *ops, i
 	r = device__register(&entry->dev_hdr);
 	if (r < 0)
 		goto out_erase;
-	br_write_unlock(kvm);
+	up_write(&ioport_lock);
 
 	return port;
 
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ out_erase:
 	rb_int_erase(&ioport_tree, &entry->node);
 out_free:
 	free(entry);
-	br_write_unlock(kvm);
+	up_write(&ioport_lock);
 	return r;
 }
 
@@ -113,7 +115,7 @@ int ioport__unregister(struct kvm *kvm, u16 port)
 	struct ioport *entry;
 	int r;
 
-	br_write_lock(kvm);
+	down_write(&ioport_lock);
 
 	r = -ENOENT;
 	entry = ioport_search(&ioport_tree, port);
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ int ioport__unregister(struct kvm *kvm, u16 port)
 	r = 0;
 
 done:
-	br_write_unlock(kvm);
+	up_write(&ioport_lock);
 
 	return r;
 }
@@ -171,8 +173,10 @@ bool kvm__emulate_io(struct kvm_cpu *vcpu, u16 port, void *data, int direction,
 	void *ptr = data;
 	struct kvm *kvm = vcpu->kvm;
 
-	br_read_lock(kvm);
+	down_read(&ioport_lock);
 	entry = ioport_search(&ioport_tree, port);
+	up_read(&ioport_lock);
+
 	if (!entry)
 		goto out;
 
@@ -188,8 +192,6 @@ bool kvm__emulate_io(struct kvm_cpu *vcpu, u16 port, void *data, int direction,
 	}
 
 out:
-	br_read_unlock(kvm);
-
 	if (ret)
 		return true;
 
diff --git a/mmio.c b/mmio.c
index 61e1d47a587d..4e0ff830c738 100644
--- a/mmio.c
+++ b/mmio.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include "kvm/kvm.h"
 #include "kvm/kvm-cpu.h"
 #include "kvm/rbtree-interval.h"
-#include "kvm/brlock.h"
+#include "kvm/rwsem.h"
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 
 #define mmio_node(n) rb_entry(n, struct mmio_mapping, node)
 
+static DECLARE_RWSEM(mmio_lock);
+
 struct mmio_mapping {
 	struct rb_int_node	node;
 	void			(*mmio_fn)(struct kvm_cpu *vcpu, u64 addr, u8 *data, u32 len, u8 is_write, void *ptr);
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ static const char *to_direction(u8 is_write)
 
 int kvm__register_mmio(struct kvm *kvm, u64 phys_addr, u64 phys_addr_len, bool coalesce,
 		       void (*mmio_fn)(struct kvm_cpu *vcpu, u64 addr, u8 *data, u32 len, u8 is_write, void *ptr),
-			void *ptr)
+		       void *ptr)
 {
 	struct mmio_mapping *mmio;
 	struct kvm_coalesced_mmio_zone zone;
@@ -88,9 +90,9 @@ int kvm__register_mmio(struct kvm *kvm, u64 phys_addr, u64 phys_addr_len, bool c
 			return -errno;
 		}
 	}
-	br_write_lock(kvm);
+	down_write(&mmio_lock);
 	ret = mmio_insert(&mmio_tree, mmio);
-	br_write_unlock(kvm);
+	up_write(&mmio_lock);
 
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -100,10 +102,10 @@ bool kvm__deregister_mmio(struct kvm *kvm, u64 phys_addr)
 	struct mmio_mapping *mmio;
 	struct kvm_coalesced_mmio_zone zone;
 
-	br_write_lock(kvm);
+	down_write(&mmio_lock);
 	mmio = mmio_search_single(&mmio_tree, phys_addr);
 	if (mmio == NULL) {
-		br_write_unlock(kvm);
+		up_write(&mmio_lock);
 		return false;
 	}
 
@@ -114,7 +116,7 @@ bool kvm__deregister_mmio(struct kvm *kvm, u64 phys_addr)
 	ioctl(kvm->vm_fd, KVM_UNREGISTER_COALESCED_MMIO, &zone);
 
 	rb_int_erase(&mmio_tree, &mmio->node);
-	br_write_unlock(kvm);
+	up_write(&mmio_lock);
 
 	free(mmio);
 	return true;
@@ -124,8 +126,15 @@ bool kvm__emulate_mmio(struct kvm_cpu *vcpu, u64 phys_addr, u8 *data, u32 len, u
 {
 	struct mmio_mapping *mmio;
 
-	br_read_lock(vcpu->kvm);
+	/*
+	 * The callback might call kvm__register_mmio which takes a write lock,
+	 * so avoid deadlocks by protecting only the node search with a reader
+	 * lock. Note that there is still a small time window for a node to be
+	 * deleted by another vcpu before mmio_fn gets called.
+	 */
+	down_read(&mmio_lock);
 	mmio = mmio_search(&mmio_tree, phys_addr, len);
+	up_read(&mmio_lock);
 
 	if (mmio)
 		mmio->mmio_fn(vcpu, phys_addr, data, len, is_write, mmio->ptr);
@@ -135,7 +144,6 @@ bool kvm__emulate_mmio(struct kvm_cpu *vcpu, u64 phys_addr, u8 *data, u32 len, u
 				to_direction(is_write),
 				(unsigned long long)phys_addr, len);
 	}
-	br_read_unlock(vcpu->kvm);
 
 	return true;
 }
