diff --git a/mm/compaction.c b/mm/compaction.c
index e0ab02d70f13..b48c5259ea33 100644
--- a/mm/compaction.c
+++ b/mm/compaction.c
@@ -523,7 +523,10 @@ isolate_migratepages_range(struct zone *zone, struct compact_control *cc,
 		if (!isolation_suitable(cc, page))
 			goto next_pageblock;
 
-		/* Skip if free */
+		/*
+		 * Skip if free. page_order cannot be used without zone->lock
+		 * as nothing prevents parallel allocations or buddy merging.
+		 */
 		if (PageBuddy(page))
 			continue;
 
diff --git a/mm/internal.h b/mm/internal.h
index 7e145e8cd1e6..612c14f5e0f5 100644
--- a/mm/internal.h
+++ b/mm/internal.h
@@ -143,9 +143,11 @@ isolate_migratepages_range(struct zone *zone, struct compact_control *cc,
 #endif
 
 /*
- * function for dealing with page's order in buddy system.
- * zone->lock is already acquired when we use these.
- * So, we don't need atomic page->flags operations here.
+ * This function returns the order of a free page in the buddy system. In
+ * general, page_zone(page)->lock must be held by the caller to prevent the
+ * page from being allocated in parallel and returning garbage as the order.
+ * If a caller does not hold page_zone(page)->lock, it must guarantee that the
+ * page cannot be allocated or merged in parallel.
  */
 static inline unsigned long page_order(struct page *page)
 {