diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/DefaultSolrCoreState.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/DefaultSolrCoreState.java
index 3281afb6f94..5fc4c38eef5 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/DefaultSolrCoreState.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/DefaultSolrCoreState.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public final class DefaultSolrCoreState extends SolrCoreState implements Recover
     this.directoryFactory = directoryFactory;
   }
   
-  private synchronized void closeIndexWriter(IndexWriterCloser closer) {
+  private void closeIndexWriter(IndexWriterCloser closer) {
     try {
       log.info("SolrCoreState ref count has reached 0 - closing IndexWriter");
       if (closer != null) {
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public final class DefaultSolrCoreState extends SolrCoreState implements Recover
   }
   
   @Override
-  public synchronized RefCounted<IndexWriter> getIndexWriter(SolrCore core)
+  public RefCounted<IndexWriter> getIndexWriter(SolrCore core)
       throws IOException {
     
     if (closed) {
@@ -141,25 +141,13 @@ public final class DefaultSolrCoreState extends SolrCoreState implements Recover
       // then lets wait until its out of use
       log.info("Waiting until IndexWriter is unused... core=" + coreName);
       
-      boolean yieldedCommitLock = false;
-      try {
-        if (commitLock.isHeldByCurrentThread()) {
-          yieldedCommitLock = true;
-          commitLock.unlock();
-        }
+      while (!writerFree) {
+        try {
+          writerPauseLock.wait(100);
+        } catch (InterruptedException e) {}
         
-        while (!writerFree) {
-          try {
-            writerPauseLock.wait(100);
-          } catch (InterruptedException e) {}
-          
-          if (closed) {
-            throw new RuntimeException("SolrCoreState already closed");
-          }
-        }
-      } finally {
-        if (yieldedCommitLock) {
-          commitLock.lock();
+        if (closed) {
+          throw new RuntimeException("SolrCoreState already closed");
         }
       }
 
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/SolrCoreState.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/SolrCoreState.java
index 850d739dd20..12483736cff 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/SolrCoreState.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/update/SolrCoreState.java
@@ -59,18 +59,20 @@ public abstract class SolrCoreState {
   }
   
   public void decrefSolrCoreState(IndexWriterCloser closer) {
+    boolean close = false;
     synchronized (this) {
-      
       solrCoreStateRefCnt--;
       if (solrCoreStateRefCnt == 0) {
-
-        try {
-          log.info("Closing SolrCoreState");
-          close(closer);
-        } catch (Throwable t) {
-          log.error("Error closing SolrCoreState", t);
-        }
-        
+        close = true;
+      }
+    }
+    
+    if (close) {
+      try {
+        log.info("Closing SolrCoreState");
+        close(closer);
+      } catch (Throwable t) {
+        log.error("Error closing SolrCoreState", t);
       }
     }
   }