diff --git a/cmd/zed/zed_exec.c b/cmd/zed/zed_exec.c
index 9b0775a746..0a6782f020 100644
--- a/cmd/zed/zed_exec.c
+++ b/cmd/zed/zed_exec.c
@@ -142,8 +142,10 @@ _zed_exec_fork_child(uint64_t eid, const char *dir, const char *prog,
 		    prog, eid, strerror(ENAMETOOLONG));
 		return;
 	}
+	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&_launched_processes_lock);
 	pid = fork();
 	if (pid < 0) {
+		(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&_launched_processes_lock);
 		zed_log_msg(LOG_WARNING,
 		    "Failed to fork \"%s\" for eid=%llu: %s",
 		    prog, eid, strerror(errno));
@@ -166,20 +168,19 @@ _zed_exec_fork_child(uint64_t eid, const char *dir, const char *prog,
 
 	/* parent process */
 
-	__atomic_sub_fetch(&_launched_processes_limit, 1, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
-	zed_log_msg(LOG_INFO, "Invoking \"%s\" eid=%llu pid=%d",
-	    prog, eid, pid);
-
 	node = calloc(1, sizeof (*node));
 	if (node) {
 		node->pid = pid;
 		node->eid = eid;
 		node->name = strdup(prog);
 
-		(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&_launched_processes_lock);
 		avl_add(&_launched_processes, node);
-		(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&_launched_processes_lock);
 	}
+	(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&_launched_processes_lock);
+
+	__atomic_sub_fetch(&_launched_processes_limit, 1, __ATOMIC_SEQ_CST);
+	zed_log_msg(LOG_INFO, "Invoking \"%s\" eid=%llu pid=%d",
+	    prog, eid, pid);
 }
 
 static void