diff --git a/main/pbx_app.c b/main/pbx_app.c
index e0609db70e..ec6bc75890 100644
--- a/main/pbx_app.c
+++ b/main/pbx_app.c
@@ -394,6 +394,11 @@ int ast_unregister_application(const char *app)
 	struct ast_app *cur;
 	int cmp;
 
+	/* Anticipate need for conlock in unreference_cached_app(), in order to avoid
+	 * possible deadlock with pbx_extension_helper()/pbx_findapp()
+	 */
+	ast_rdlock_contexts();
+
 	AST_RWLIST_WRLOCK(&apps);
 	AST_RWLIST_TRAVERSE_SAFE_BEGIN(&apps, cur, list) {
 		cmp = strcasecmp(app, cur->name);
@@ -416,6 +421,8 @@ int ast_unregister_application(const char *app)
 	AST_RWLIST_TRAVERSE_SAFE_END;
 	AST_RWLIST_UNLOCK(&apps);
 
+	ast_unlock_contexts();
+
 	return cur ? 0 : -1;
 }