diff --git a/share/man/man9/pserialize.9 b/share/man/man9/pserialize.9
index 75bd3fa85d61..f6669c306aab 100644
--- a/share/man/man9/pserialize.9
+++ b/share/man/man9/pserialize.9
@@ -67,9 +67,10 @@ Takes the IPL value returned by
 .It Fn pserialize_perform
 Perform the passive serialization on the writer side.
 Passing of this function ensures that no readers are in action.
-Writers must be additionally serialized with a separate mechanism,
-e.g.
-.Xr mutex 9 .
+Writers are typically additionally serialized with a separate
+mechanism, e.g.
+.Xr mutex 9 ,
+to remove objects used by readers from a published list.
 Operation blocks and it may only be performed from thread context.
 .El
 .\" -----
@@ -152,14 +153,15 @@ readers:
 			break;
 		}
 	}
+	mutex_exit(&frobbotzim.lock);
+
 	/*
 	 * Wait for all existing readers to complete.  New readers will
 	 * not see f because the list no longer points to it.
 	 */
 	pserialize_perform(frobbotzim.psz);
-	/* Now nobody else can be touching f, so it is safe to free.  */
-	mutex_exit(&frobbotzim.lock);
 
+	/* Now nobody else can be touching f, so it is safe to free.  */
 	if (f != NULL)
 		pool_put(&frotz_pool, f);
 .Ed
diff --git a/sys/dev/audio/audio.c b/sys/dev/audio/audio.c
index 23782d26496d..1193aa2ade7a 100644
--- a/sys/dev/audio/audio.c
+++ b/sys/dev/audio/audio.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
  *	halt_output 		x	x +
  *	halt_input 		x	x +
  *	speaker_ctl 		x	x
- *	getdev 			-	x
+ *	getdev 			-	-
  *	set_port 		-	x +
  *	get_port 		-	x +
  *	query_devinfo 		-	x
@@ -1322,6 +1322,7 @@ audiodetach(device_t self, int flags)
 	SLIST_FOREACH(file, &sc->sc_files, entry) {
 		atomic_store_relaxed(&file->dying, true);
 	}
+	mutex_exit(sc->sc_lock);
 
 	/*
 	 * Wait for existing users to drain.
@@ -1331,7 +1332,6 @@ audiodetach(device_t self, int flags)
 	 *   be psref_released.
 	 */
 	pserialize_perform(sc->sc_psz);
-	mutex_exit(sc->sc_lock);
 	psref_target_destroy(&sc->sc_psref, audio_psref_class);
 
 	/*
@@ -3113,9 +3113,7 @@ audio_ioctl(dev_t dev, struct audio_softc *sc, u_long cmd, void *addr, int flag,
 		break;
 
 	case AUDIO_GETDEV:
-		mutex_enter(sc->sc_lock);
 		error = sc->hw_if->getdev(sc->hw_hdl, (audio_device_t *)addr);
-		mutex_exit(sc->sc_lock);
 		break;
 
 	case AUDIO_GETENC:
@@ -8291,9 +8289,7 @@ mixer_ioctl(struct audio_softc *sc, u_long cmd, void *addr, int flag,
 
 	case AUDIO_GETDEV:
 		TRACE(2, "AUDIO_GETDEV");
-		mutex_enter(sc->sc_lock);
 		error = sc->hw_if->getdev(sc->hw_hdl, (audio_device_t *)addr);
-		mutex_exit(sc->sc_lock);
 		break;
 
 	case AUDIO_MIXER_DEVINFO:
diff --git a/sys/kern/subr_pserialize.c b/sys/kern/subr_pserialize.c
index 48424385cf77..249c9c58f16c 100644
--- a/sys/kern/subr_pserialize.c
+++ b/sys/kern/subr_pserialize.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ __KERNEL_RCSID(0, "$NetBSD: subr_pserialize.c,v 1.17 2019/12/05 03:21:29 riastra
 #include <sys/xcall.h>
 
 struct pserialize {
-	lwp_t *			psz_owner;
+	char			psz_dummy;
 };
 
 static kmutex_t			psz_lock	__cacheline_aligned;
@@ -86,16 +86,13 @@ void
 pserialize_destroy(pserialize_t psz)
 {
 
-	KASSERT(psz->psz_owner == NULL);
 	kmem_free(psz, sizeof(*psz));
 }
 
 /*
  * pserialize_perform:
  *
- *	Perform the write side of passive serialization.  This operation
- *	MUST be serialized at a caller level (e.g. with a mutex or by a
- *	single-threaded use).
+ *	Perform the write side of passive serialization.
  */
 void
 pserialize_perform(pserialize_t psz)
@@ -107,22 +104,17 @@ pserialize_perform(pserialize_t psz)
 	if (__predict_false(panicstr != NULL)) {
 		return;
 	}
-	KASSERT(psz->psz_owner == NULL);
 
 	if (__predict_false(mp_online == false)) {
 		psz_ev_excl.ev_count++;
 		return;
 	}
 
-	psz->psz_owner = curlwp;
-
 	/*
 	 * Broadcast a NOP to all CPUs and wait until all of them complete.
 	 */
 	xc_barrier(XC_HIGHPRI);
 
-	KASSERT(psz->psz_owner == curlwp);
-	psz->psz_owner = NULL;
 	mutex_enter(&psz_lock);
 	psz_ev_excl.ev_count++;
 	mutex_exit(&psz_lock);