diff --git a/sys/fs/devfs/devfs_vnops.c b/sys/fs/devfs/devfs_vnops.c
index dc20a601fcb5..e51ca4fd7db0 100644
--- a/sys/fs/devfs/devfs_vnops.c
+++ b/sys/fs/devfs/devfs_vnops.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ devfs_allocv(struct devfs_dirent *de, struct mount *mp, struct vnode **vpp, stru
 		vp->v_type = VCHR;
 		VI_LOCK(vp);
 		dev_lock();
-		dev->si_refcount++;
+		dev_ref(dev);
 		vp->v_rdev = dev;
 		SLIST_INSERT_HEAD(&dev->si_hlist, vp, v_specnext);
 		dev->si_usecount += vp->v_usecount;
diff --git a/sys/kern/kern_conf.c b/sys/kern/kern_conf.c
index 5575e6b2b92a..12402cb1383e 100644
--- a/sys/kern/kern_conf.c
+++ b/sys/kern/kern_conf.c
@@ -81,9 +81,8 @@ void
 dev_ref(struct cdev *dev)
 {
 
-	dev_lock();
+	mtx_assert(&devmtx, MA_OWNED);
 	dev->si_refcount++;
-	dev_unlock();
 }
 
 void