diff --git a/kernel/exit.c b/kernel/exit.c
index 381282fb756c..563bdaa76694 100644
--- a/kernel/exit.c
+++ b/kernel/exit.c
@@ -917,6 +917,7 @@ void __noreturn make_task_dead(int signr)
 	 * Take the task off the cpu after something catastrophic has
 	 * happened.
 	 */
+	unsigned int limit;
 
 	/*
 	 * Every time the system oopses, if the oops happens while a reference
@@ -928,8 +929,9 @@ void __noreturn make_task_dead(int signr)
 	 * To make sure this can't happen, place an upper bound on how often the
 	 * kernel may oops without panic().
 	 */
-	if (atomic_inc_return(&oops_count) >= READ_ONCE(oops_limit) && oops_limit)
-		panic("Oopsed too often (kernel.oops_limit is %d)", oops_limit);
+	limit = READ_ONCE(oops_limit);
+	if (atomic_inc_return(&oops_count) >= limit && limit)
+		panic("Oopsed too often (kernel.oops_limit is %d)", limit);
 
 	do_exit(signr);
 }
diff --git a/kernel/panic.c b/kernel/panic.c
index 2c118645e740..cef79466f941 100644
--- a/kernel/panic.c
+++ b/kernel/panic.c
@@ -199,12 +199,15 @@ static void panic_print_sys_info(void)
 
 void check_panic_on_warn(const char *origin)
 {
+	unsigned int limit;
+
 	if (panic_on_warn)
 		panic("%s: panic_on_warn set ...\n", origin);
 
-	if (atomic_inc_return(&warn_count) >= READ_ONCE(warn_limit) && warn_limit)
+	limit = READ_ONCE(warn_limit);
+	if (atomic_inc_return(&warn_count) >= limit && limit)
 		panic("%s: system warned too often (kernel.warn_limit is %d)",
-		      origin, warn_limit);
+		      origin, limit);
 }
 
 /**