diff --git a/sound/core/seq/seq_virmidi.c b/sound/core/seq/seq_virmidi.c
index f48a4cd24ffc..289ae6bb81d9 100644
--- a/sound/core/seq/seq_virmidi.c
+++ b/sound/core/seq/seq_virmidi.c
@@ -174,12 +174,12 @@ static void snd_virmidi_output_trigger(struct snd_rawmidi_substream *substream,
 			}
 			return;
 		}
+		spin_lock_irqsave(&substream->runtime->lock, flags);
 		if (vmidi->event.type != SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_NONE) {
 			if (snd_seq_kernel_client_dispatch(vmidi->client, &vmidi->event, in_atomic(), 0) < 0)
-				return;
+				goto out;
 			vmidi->event.type = SNDRV_SEQ_EVENT_NONE;
 		}
-		spin_lock_irqsave(&substream->runtime->lock, flags);
 		while (1) {
 			count = __snd_rawmidi_transmit_peek(substream, buf, sizeof(buf));
 			if (count <= 0)