diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index cbb5918e4fc5..09aef266d4d1 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -5235,7 +5235,7 @@ static void rollback_registered_many(struct list_head *head)
 	dev = list_first_entry(head, struct net_device, unreg_list);
 	call_netdevice_notifiers(NETDEV_UNREGISTER_BATCH, dev);
 
-	rcu_barrier();
+	synchronize_net();
 
 	list_for_each_entry(dev, head, unreg_list)
 		dev_put(dev);
@@ -5748,6 +5748,12 @@ void netdev_run_todo(void)
 
 	__rtnl_unlock();
 
+	/* Wait for rcu callbacks to finish before attempting to drain
+	 * the device list.  This usually avoids a 250ms wait.
+	 */
+	if (!list_empty(&list))
+		rcu_barrier();
+
 	while (!list_empty(&list)) {
 		struct net_device *dev
 			= list_first_entry(&list, struct net_device, todo_list);