diff --git a/kernel/taskstats.c b/kernel/taskstats.c
index 13a0f2e6ebc2..e2ac0e37c4ae 100644
--- a/kernel/taskstats.c
+++ b/kernel/taskstats.c
@@ -554,25 +554,33 @@ static int taskstats_user_cmd(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 static struct taskstats *taskstats_tgid_alloc(struct task_struct *tsk)
 {
 	struct signal_struct *sig = tsk->signal;
-	struct taskstats *stats;
+	struct taskstats *stats_new, *stats;
 
-	if (sig->stats || thread_group_empty(tsk))
-		goto ret;
+	/* Pairs with smp_store_release() below. */
+	stats = smp_load_acquire(&sig->stats);
+	if (stats || thread_group_empty(tsk))
+		return stats;
 
 	/* No problem if kmem_cache_zalloc() fails */
-	stats = kmem_cache_zalloc(taskstats_cache, GFP_KERNEL);
+	stats_new = kmem_cache_zalloc(taskstats_cache, GFP_KERNEL);
 
 	spin_lock_irq(&tsk->sighand->siglock);
-	if (!sig->stats) {
-		sig->stats = stats;
-		stats = NULL;
+	stats = sig->stats;
+	if (!stats) {
+		/*
+		 * Pairs with smp_store_release() above and order the
+		 * kmem_cache_zalloc().
+		 */
+		smp_store_release(&sig->stats, stats_new);
+		stats = stats_new;
+		stats_new = NULL;
 	}
 	spin_unlock_irq(&tsk->sighand->siglock);
 
-	if (stats)
-		kmem_cache_free(taskstats_cache, stats);
-ret:
-	return sig->stats;
+	if (stats_new)
+		kmem_cache_free(taskstats_cache, stats_new);
+
+	return stats;
 }
 
 /* Send pid data out on exit */