diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegion.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegion.java
index 3c84b549f55..3d1d7172f4d 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegion.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegion.java
@@ -1403,10 +1403,10 @@ public class HRegion implements HeapSize, PropagatingConfigurationObserver, Regi
       }
     }
 
-    this.closing.set(true);
-    status.setStatus("Disabling writes for close");
     // block waiting for the lock for closing
     lock.writeLock().lock();
+    this.closing.set(true);
+    status.setStatus("Disabling writes for close");
     try {
       if (this.isClosed()) {
         status.abort("Already got closed by another process");