diff --git a/src/compress.c b/src/compress.c
index dda617f..af9cb5b 100644
--- a/src/compress.c
+++ b/src/compress.c
@@ -181,11 +181,14 @@ do_collect_seq(void)
     return;
   }
 
+  sched_lock();
+  collect_token = true;
+  sched_unlock();
+
   /* Do the hard work. */
   wblk->size = encode(wblk->enc, &wblk->crc);
 
   sched_lock();
-  collect_token = true;
   enqueue(trans_q, wblk);
 }