diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c
index 3ec04787a737..b7f5dbca9fac 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-core-base.c
@@ -1815,6 +1815,13 @@ void i2c_del_adapter(struct i2c_adapter *adap)
 		return;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Prevent new clients from being instantiated via sysfs while the
+	 * adapter is torn down. This drains any in-flight writers, so all
+	 * clients will be caught by i2c_deregister_clients() below.
+	 */
+	device_remove_file(&adap->dev, &dev_attr_new_device);
+
 	i2c_acpi_remove_space_handler(adap);
 
 	i2c_deregister_clients(adap);
@@ -1826,8 +1833,6 @@ void i2c_del_adapter(struct i2c_adapter *adap)
 
 	i2c_host_notify_irq_teardown(adap);
 
-	debugfs_remove_recursive(adap->debugfs);
-
 	/* wait until all references to the device are gone
 	 *
 	 * FIXME: This is old code and should ideally be replaced by an
@@ -1839,6 +1844,9 @@ void i2c_del_adapter(struct i2c_adapter *adap)
 	device_unregister(&adap->dev);
 	wait_for_completion(&adap->dev_released);
 
+	/* clients use this directory as their debugfs parent */
+	debugfs_remove_recursive(adap->debugfs);
+
 	/* free bus id */
 	mutex_lock(&core_lock);
 	idr_remove(&i2c_adapter_idr, adap->nr);