diff --git a/fs/erofs/zdata.c b/fs/erofs/zdata.c
index 1d9b2a61ca63..b0f8b18ff491 100644
--- a/fs/erofs/zdata.c
+++ b/fs/erofs/zdata.c
@@ -336,6 +336,7 @@ static struct workqueue_struct *z_erofs_workqueue __read_mostly;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_EROFS_FS_PCPU_KTHREAD
 static struct kthread_worker __rcu **z_erofs_pcpu_workers;
+static atomic_t erofs_percpu_workers_initialized = ATOMIC_INIT(0);
 
 static void erofs_destroy_percpu_workers(void)
 {
@@ -381,12 +382,8 @@ static int erofs_init_percpu_workers(void)
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
-#else
-static inline void erofs_destroy_percpu_workers(void) {}
-static inline int erofs_init_percpu_workers(void) { return 0; }
-#endif
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU) && defined(CONFIG_EROFS_FS_PCPU_KTHREAD)
+#ifdef CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU
 static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(z_erofs_pcpu_worker_lock);
 static enum cpuhp_state erofs_cpuhp_state;
 
@@ -443,15 +440,53 @@ static void erofs_cpu_hotplug_destroy(void)
 	if (erofs_cpuhp_state)
 		cpuhp_remove_state_nocalls(erofs_cpuhp_state);
 }
-#else /* !CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU || !CONFIG_EROFS_FS_PCPU_KTHREAD */
+#else /* !CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU  */
 static inline int erofs_cpu_hotplug_init(void) { return 0; }
 static inline void erofs_cpu_hotplug_destroy(void) {}
-#endif
+#endif/* CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU */
+static int z_erofs_init_pcpu_workers(struct super_block *sb)
+{
+	int err;
+
+	if (atomic_xchg(&erofs_percpu_workers_initialized, 1))
+		return 0;
+
+	err = erofs_init_percpu_workers();
+	if (err) {
+		erofs_err(sb, "per-cpu workers: failed to allocate.");
+		goto err_init_percpu_workers;
+	}
+
+	err = erofs_cpu_hotplug_init();
+	if (err < 0) {
+		erofs_err(sb, "per-cpu workers: failed CPU hotplug init.");
+		goto err_cpuhp_init;
+	}
+	erofs_info(sb, "initialized per-cpu workers successfully.");
+	return err;
+
+err_cpuhp_init:
+	erofs_destroy_percpu_workers();
+err_init_percpu_workers:
+	atomic_set(&erofs_percpu_workers_initialized, 0);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static void z_erofs_destroy_pcpu_workers(void)
+{
+	if (!atomic_xchg(&erofs_percpu_workers_initialized, 0))
+		return;
+	erofs_cpu_hotplug_destroy();
+	erofs_destroy_percpu_workers();
+}
+#else /* !CONFIG_EROFS_FS_PCPU_KTHREAD */
+static inline int z_erofs_init_pcpu_workers(struct super_block *sb) { return 0; }
+static inline void z_erofs_destroy_pcpu_workers(void) {}
+#endif/* CONFIG_EROFS_FS_PCPU_KTHREAD */
 
 void z_erofs_exit_zip_subsystem(void)
 {
-	erofs_cpu_hotplug_destroy();
-	erofs_destroy_percpu_workers();
+	z_erofs_destroy_pcpu_workers();
 	destroy_workqueue(z_erofs_workqueue);
 	z_erofs_destroy_pcluster_pool();
 }
@@ -467,23 +502,12 @@ int __init z_erofs_init_zip_subsystem(void)
 			WQ_UNBOUND | WQ_HIGHPRI, num_possible_cpus());
 	if (!z_erofs_workqueue) {
 		err = -ENOMEM;
-		goto out_error_workqueue_init;
+		goto out_err_workqueue_init;
 	}
 
-	err = erofs_init_percpu_workers();
-	if (err)
-		goto out_error_pcpu_worker;
-
-	err = erofs_cpu_hotplug_init();
-	if (err < 0)
-		goto out_error_cpuhp_init;
 	return err;
 
-out_error_cpuhp_init:
-	erofs_destroy_percpu_workers();
-out_error_pcpu_worker:
-	destroy_workqueue(z_erofs_workqueue);
-out_error_workqueue_init:
+out_err_workqueue_init:
 	z_erofs_destroy_pcluster_pool();
 out_error_pcluster_pool:
 	return err;
@@ -711,8 +735,14 @@ static const struct address_space_operations z_erofs_cache_aops = {
 
 int erofs_init_managed_cache(struct super_block *sb)
 {
-	struct inode *const inode = new_inode(sb);
+	struct inode *inode;
+	int err;
 
+	err = z_erofs_init_pcpu_workers(sb);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
+
+	inode = new_inode(sb);
 	if (!inode)
 		return -ENOMEM;