diff --git a/intern/cycles/scene/scene.cpp b/intern/cycles/scene/scene.cpp
index 3a05bede7a3..1a611b2a3db 100644
--- a/intern/cycles/scene/scene.cpp
+++ b/intern/cycles/scene/scene.cpp
@@ -488,6 +488,8 @@ void Scene::update_kernel_features()
     return;
   }
 
+  thread_scoped_lock scene_lock(mutex);
+
   /* These features are not being tweaked as often as shaders,
    * so could be done selective magic for the viewport as well. */
   uint kernel_features = shader_manager->get_kernel_features(this);
@@ -574,9 +576,6 @@ bool Scene::update(Progress &progress)
     return false;
   }
 
-  /* Load render kernels, before device update where we upload data to the GPU. */
-  load_kernels(progress, false);
-
   /* Upload scene data to the GPU. */
   progress.set_status("Updating Scene");
   MEM_GUARDED_CALL(&progress, device_update, device, progress);
@@ -616,13 +615,8 @@ static void log_kernel_features(const uint features)
             << "\n";
 }
 
-bool Scene::load_kernels(Progress &progress, bool lock_scene)
+bool Scene::load_kernels(Progress &progress)
 {
-  thread_scoped_lock scene_lock;
-  if (lock_scene) {
-    scene_lock = thread_scoped_lock(mutex);
-  }
-
   update_kernel_features();
 
   const uint kernel_features = dscene.data.kernel_features;
diff --git a/intern/cycles/scene/scene.h b/intern/cycles/scene/scene.h
index d87cc37aafe..f2bc8f7b9f2 100644
--- a/intern/cycles/scene/scene.h
+++ b/intern/cycles/scene/scene.h
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ class Scene : public NodeOwner {
 
   void enable_update_stats();
 
+  bool load_kernels(Progress &progress);
   bool update(Progress &progress);
 
   bool has_shadow_catcher();
@@ -333,7 +334,6 @@ class Scene : public NodeOwner {
   uint loaded_kernel_features;
 
   void update_kernel_features();
-  bool load_kernels(Progress &progress, bool lock_scene = true);
 
   bool has_shadow_catcher_ = false;
   bool shadow_catcher_modified_ = true;
diff --git a/intern/cycles/session/session.cpp b/intern/cycles/session/session.cpp
index acaa55f4990..e5ece8dc0cb 100644
--- a/intern/cycles/session/session.cpp
+++ b/intern/cycles/session/session.cpp
@@ -378,6 +378,18 @@ RenderWork Session::run_update_for_next_iteration()
     const int width = max(1, buffer_params_.full_width / resolution);
     const int height = max(1, buffer_params_.full_height / resolution);
 
+    {
+      /* Load render kernels, before device update where we upload data to the GPU.
+       * Do it outside of the scene mutex since the heavy part of the loading (i.e. kernel
+       * compilation) does not depend on the scene and some other functionality (like display
+       * driver) might be waiting on the scene mutex to synchronize display pass.
+       *
+       * The scene will lock itself for the short period if it needs to update kernel features. */
+      scene_lock.unlock();
+      scene->load_kernels(progress);
+      scene_lock.lock();
+    }
+
     if (update_scene(width, height)) {
       profiler.reset(scene->shaders.size(), scene->objects.size());
     }