diff --git a/sound/core/seq/oss/seq_oss.c b/sound/core/seq/oss/seq_oss.c
index c8b9c0b315d8..250a92b18726 100644
--- a/sound/core/seq/oss/seq_oss.c
+++ b/sound/core/seq/oss/seq_oss.c
@@ -174,9 +174,12 @@ odev_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
 	if (snd_BUG_ON(!dp))
 		return -ENXIO;
 
-	mutex_lock(&register_mutex);
+	if (cmd != SNDCTL_SEQ_SYNC &&
+	    mutex_lock_interruptible(&register_mutex))
+		return -ERESTARTSYS;
 	rc = snd_seq_oss_ioctl(dp, cmd, arg);
-	mutex_unlock(&register_mutex);
+	if (cmd != SNDCTL_SEQ_SYNC)
+		mutex_unlock(&register_mutex);
 	return rc;
 }