diff --git a/plugins/core.c b/plugins/core.c
index ccb770a485..728bacef95 100644
--- a/plugins/core.c
+++ b/plugins/core.c
@@ -500,10 +500,17 @@ void qemu_plugin_user_exit(void)
     enum qemu_plugin_event ev;
     CPUState *cpu;
 
-    QEMU_LOCK_GUARD(&plugin.lock);
-
+    /*
+     * Locking order: we must acquire locks in an order that is consistent
+     * with the one in fork_start(). That is:
+     * - start_exclusive(), which acquires qemu_cpu_list_lock,
+     *   must be called before acquiring plugin.lock.
+     * - tb_flush(), which acquires mmap_lock(), must be called
+     *   while plugin.lock is not held.
+     */
     start_exclusive();
 
+    qemu_rec_mutex_lock(&plugin.lock);
     /* un-register all callbacks except the final AT_EXIT one */
     for (ev = 0; ev < QEMU_PLUGIN_EV_MAX; ev++) {
         if (ev != QEMU_PLUGIN_EV_ATEXIT) {
@@ -513,13 +520,12 @@ void qemu_plugin_user_exit(void)
             }
         }
     }
-
-    tb_flush(current_cpu);
-
     CPU_FOREACH(cpu) {
         qemu_plugin_disable_mem_helpers(cpu);
     }
+    qemu_rec_mutex_unlock(&plugin.lock);
 
+    tb_flush(current_cpu);
     end_exclusive();
 
     /* now it's safe to handle the exit case */