diff --git a/arch/arc/mm/fault.c b/arch/arc/mm/fault.c
index db6913094be3c..f28db0b112a30 100644
--- a/arch/arc/mm/fault.c
+++ b/arch/arc/mm/fault.c
@@ -143,12 +143,17 @@ void do_page_fault(unsigned long address, struct pt_regs *regs)
 	 */
 	fault = handle_mm_fault(vma, address, flags);
 
-	/* If Pagefault was interrupted by SIGKILL, exit page fault "early" */
 	if (unlikely(fatal_signal_pending(current))) {
-		if ((fault & VM_FAULT_ERROR) && !(fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY))
-			up_read(&mm->mmap_sem);
-		if (user_mode(regs))
+
+		/*
+		 * if fault retry, mmap_sem already relinquished by core mm
+		 * so OK to return to user mode (with signal handled first)
+		 */
+		if (fault & VM_FAULT_RETRY) {
+			if (!user_mode(regs))
+				goto no_context;
 			return;
+		}
 	}
 
 	perf_sw_event(PERF_COUNT_SW_PAGE_FAULTS, 1, regs, address);