diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
index 42ca0ea9af1b..fac95f2888f2 100644
--- a/mm/sparse.c
+++ b/mm/sparse.c
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ static struct mem_section noinline __init_refok *sparse_index_alloc(int nid)
 
 static int __meminit sparse_index_init(unsigned long section_nr, int nid)
 {
-	static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(index_init_lock);
 	unsigned long root = SECTION_NR_TO_ROOT(section_nr);
 	struct mem_section *section;
 	int ret = 0;
@@ -88,20 +87,9 @@ static int __meminit sparse_index_init(unsigned long section_nr, int nid)
 	section = sparse_index_alloc(nid);
 	if (!section)
 		return -ENOMEM;
-	/*
-	 * This lock keeps two different sections from
-	 * reallocating for the same index
-	 */
-	spin_lock(&index_init_lock);
-
-	if (mem_section[root]) {
-		ret = -EEXIST;
-		goto out;
-	}
 
 	mem_section[root] = section;
-out:
-	spin_unlock(&index_init_lock);
+
 	return ret;
 }
 #else /* !SPARSEMEM_EXTREME */