diff --git a/drivers/scsi/sg.c b/drivers/scsi/sg.c
index 4a003644..8e15c44 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/sg.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/sg.c
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@
 static void sg_remove(struct device *, struct class_interface *);
 
 static DEFINE_MUTEX(sg_mutex);
+static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(sg_open_exclusive_lock);
 
 static DEFINE_IDR(sg_index_idr);
 static DEFINE_RWLOCK(sg_index_lock);	/* Also used to lock
@@ -173,7 +174,8 @@
 	u32 index;		/* device index number */
 	struct list_head sfds;
 	volatile char detached;	/* 0->attached, 1->detached pending removal */
-	volatile char exclude;	/* opened for exclusive access */
+	/* exclude protected by sg_open_exclusive_lock */
+	char exclude;		/* opened for exclusive access */
 	char sgdebug;		/* 0->off, 1->sense, 9->dump dev, 10-> all devs */
 	struct gendisk *disk;
 	struct cdev * cdev;	/* char_dev [sysfs: /sys/cdev/major/sg<n>] */
@@ -221,6 +223,27 @@
 	return blk_verify_command(cmd, filp->f_mode & FMODE_WRITE);
 }
 
+static int get_exclude(Sg_device *sdp)
+{
+	unsigned long flags;
+	int ret;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&sg_open_exclusive_lock, flags);
+	ret = sdp->exclude;
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&sg_open_exclusive_lock, flags);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+static int set_exclude(Sg_device *sdp, char val)
+{
+	unsigned long flags;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&sg_open_exclusive_lock, flags);
+	sdp->exclude = val;
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&sg_open_exclusive_lock, flags);
+	return val;
+}
+
 static int
 sg_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 {
@@ -269,17 +292,17 @@
 			goto error_out;
 		}
 		res = wait_event_interruptible(sdp->o_excl_wait,
-					   ((!list_empty(&sdp->sfds) || sdp->exclude) ? 0 : (sdp->exclude = 1)));
+					   ((!list_empty(&sdp->sfds) || get_exclude(sdp)) ? 0 : set_exclude(sdp, 1)));
 		if (res) {
 			retval = res;	/* -ERESTARTSYS because signal hit process */
 			goto error_out;
 		}
-	} else if (sdp->exclude) {	/* some other fd has an exclusive lock on dev */
+	} else if (get_exclude(sdp)) {	/* some other fd has an exclusive lock on dev */
 		if (flags & O_NONBLOCK) {
 			retval = -EBUSY;
 			goto error_out;
 		}
-		res = wait_event_interruptible(sdp->o_excl_wait, !sdp->exclude);
+		res = wait_event_interruptible(sdp->o_excl_wait, !get_exclude(sdp));
 		if (res) {
 			retval = res;	/* -ERESTARTSYS because signal hit process */
 			goto error_out;
@@ -298,7 +321,7 @@
 		filp->private_data = sfp;
 	else {
 		if (flags & O_EXCL) {
-			sdp->exclude = 0;	/* undo if error */
+			set_exclude(sdp, 0);	/* undo if error */
 			wake_up_interruptible(&sdp->o_excl_wait);
 		}
 		retval = -ENOMEM;
@@ -329,7 +352,7 @@
 		return -ENXIO;
 	SCSI_LOG_TIMEOUT(3, printk("sg_release: %s\n", sdp->disk->disk_name));
 
-	sdp->exclude = 0;
+	set_exclude(sdp, 0);
 	wake_up_interruptible(&sdp->o_excl_wait);
 
 	scsi_autopm_put_device(sdp->device);
@@ -2606,7 +2629,7 @@
 			     scsidp->lun,
 			     scsidp->host->hostt->emulated);
 		seq_printf(s, " sg_tablesize=%d excl=%d\n",
-			   sdp->sg_tablesize, sdp->exclude);
+			   sdp->sg_tablesize, get_exclude(sdp));
 		sg_proc_debug_helper(s, sdp);
 	}
 	read_unlock_irqrestore(&sg_index_lock, iflags);