diff --git a/runtime_scan/pkg/orchestrator/common/queue.go b/runtime_scan/pkg/orchestrator/common/queue.go
index 943a3b956..67c1ff342 100644
--- a/runtime_scan/pkg/orchestrator/common/queue.go
+++ b/runtime_scan/pkg/orchestrator/common/queue.go
@@ -82,12 +82,19 @@ func NewQueue[T ReconcileEvent]() *Queue[T] {
 // "Done" is called with the dequeued item to acknowledge its processing is
 // completed.
 func (q *Queue[T]) Dequeue(ctx context.Context) (T, error) {
+	// Grab the lock so that we can check the length of q.queue safely.
+	q.l.Lock()
 	if len(q.queue) == 0 {
+		// Unlock while we wait for an item to be added to the queue
+		q.l.Unlock()
+
 		// If the queue is empty, block waiting for the itemAdded
 		// notification or context timeout.
 		select {
 		case <-q.itemAdded:
-			// continue
+			// We know we have an item added to the queue so grab
+			// the lock so that we can dequeue it safely
+			q.l.Lock()
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			var empty T
 			return empty, fmt.Errorf("failed to get item: %w", ctx.Err())
@@ -100,8 +107,6 @@ func (q *Queue[T]) Dequeue(ctx context.Context) (T, error) {
 		default:
 		}
 	}
-
-	q.l.Lock()
 	defer q.l.Unlock()
 
 	item := q.queue[0]