diff --git a/src/evo/cbtx.cpp b/src/evo/cbtx.cpp
index 5bf9afb31c584..6cc74d1de796b 100644
--- a/src/evo/cbtx.cpp
+++ b/src/evo/cbtx.cpp
@@ -111,8 +111,6 @@ bool CheckCbTxMerkleRoots(const CBlock& block, const CBlockIndex* pindex, const
 
 bool CalcCbTxMerkleRootMNList(const CBlock& block, const CBlockIndex* pindexPrev, uint256& merkleRootRet, BlockValidationState& state, const CCoinsViewCache& view)
 {
-    LOCK(deterministicMNManager->cs); // second!
-
     try {
         static int64_t nTimeDMN = 0;
         static int64_t nTimeSMNL = 0;
@@ -121,7 +119,7 @@ bool CalcCbTxMerkleRootMNList(const CBlock& block, const CBlockIndex* pindexPrev
         int64_t nTime1 = GetTimeMicros();
 
         CDeterministicMNList tmpMNList;
-        if (!deterministicMNManager->BuildNewListFromBlock(block, pindexPrev, state, view, tmpMNList, false)) { // step-0
+        if (!deterministicMNManager->BuildNewListFromBlock(block, pindexPrev, state, view, tmpMNList, false)) {
             // pass the state returned by the function above
             return false;
         }
diff --git a/src/evo/deterministicmns.cpp b/src/evo/deterministicmns.cpp
index bd027f1bb9d33..631613868e9d8 100644
--- a/src/evo/deterministicmns.cpp
+++ b/src/evo/deterministicmns.cpp
@@ -611,8 +611,6 @@ bool CDeterministicMNManager::ProcessBlock(const CBlock& block, const CBlockInde
     int nHeight = pindex->nHeight;
 
     try {
-        LOCK(cs);
-
         if (!BuildNewListFromBlock(block, pindex->pprev, state, view, newList, true)) {
             // pass the state returned by the function above
             return false;
@@ -624,6 +622,8 @@ bool CDeterministicMNManager::ProcessBlock(const CBlock& block, const CBlockInde
 
         newList.SetBlockHash(pindex->GetBlockHash());
 
+        LOCK(cs);
+
         oldList = GetListForBlockInternal(pindex->pprev);
         diff = oldList.BuildDiff(newList);
 
@@ -706,11 +706,9 @@ void CDeterministicMNManager::UpdatedBlockTip(const CBlockIndex* pindex)
 
 bool CDeterministicMNManager::BuildNewListFromBlock(const CBlock& block, const CBlockIndex* pindexPrev, BlockValidationState& state, const CCoinsViewCache& view, CDeterministicMNList& mnListRet, bool debugLogs)
 {
-    AssertLockHeld(cs);
-
     int nHeight = pindexPrev->nHeight + 1;
 
-    CDeterministicMNList oldList = GetListForBlockInternal(pindexPrev);
+    CDeterministicMNList oldList = this->GetListForBlock(pindexPrev);
     CDeterministicMNList newList = oldList;
     newList.SetBlockHash(uint256()); // we can't know the final block hash, so better not return a (invalid) block hash
     newList.SetHeight(nHeight);
diff --git a/src/evo/deterministicmns.h b/src/evo/deterministicmns.h
index 0b8934949dd90..e56e825bae64f 100644
--- a/src/evo/deterministicmns.h
+++ b/src/evo/deterministicmns.h
@@ -578,10 +578,8 @@ class CDeterministicMNManager
     static constexpr int DISK_SNAPSHOTS = llmq_max_blocks() / DISK_SNAPSHOT_PERIOD + 1;
     static constexpr int LIST_DIFFS_CACHE_SIZE = DISK_SNAPSHOT_PERIOD * DISK_SNAPSHOTS;
 
-public:
-    Mutex cs; // mutex
-
 private:
+    Mutex cs;
     Mutex cs_cleanup;
     // We have performed CleanupCache() on this height.
     int did_cleanup GUARDED_BY(cs_cleanup) {0};
@@ -611,7 +609,7 @@ class CDeterministicMNManager
 
     // the returned list will not contain the correct block hash (we can't know it yet as the coinbase TX is not updated yet)
     bool BuildNewListFromBlock(const CBlock& block, const CBlockIndex* pindexPrev, BlockValidationState& state, const CCoinsViewCache& view,
-                               CDeterministicMNList& mnListRet, bool debugLogs) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs);
+                               CDeterministicMNList& mnListRet, bool debugLogs) LOCKS_EXCLUDED(cs);
 
     std::vector<CDeterministicMNCPtr> ComputeQuorumMembers(Consensus::LLMQType llmqType, const CBlockIndex* pQuorumBaseBlockIndex) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs);
 
@@ -650,7 +648,7 @@ PreviousQuorumQuarters GetPreviousQuorumQuarterMembers(const Consensus::LLMQPara
     std::pair<CDeterministicMNList, CDeterministicMNList> GetMNUsageBySnapshot(const Consensus::LLMQParams& llmqParams,
                                                                                        const CBlockIndex* pCycleQuorumBaseBlockIndex,
                                                                                        const llmq::CQuorumSnapshot& snapshot,
-                                                                                       int nHeight) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs);
+                                                                                       int nHeight) LOCKS_EXCLUDED(cs);
     std::vector<std::vector<CDeterministicMNCPtr>> GetQuorumQuarterMembersBySnapshot(const Consensus::LLMQParams& llmqParams,
             const CBlockIndex* pCycleQuorumBaseBlockIndex,
             const llmq::CQuorumSnapshot& snapshot,
@@ -660,6 +658,7 @@ PreviousQuorumQuarters GetPreviousQuorumQuarterMembers(const Consensus::LLMQPara
     std::vector<std::vector<CDeterministicMNCPtr>> BuildNewQuorumQuarterMembers(const Consensus::LLMQParams& llmqParams,
                                                                                 const CBlockIndex* pCycleQuorumBaseBlockIndex,
                                                                                 const PreviousQuorumQuarters& previousQuarters) LOCKS_EXCLUDED(cs);
+
     static void DecreasePoSePenalties(CDeterministicMNList& mnList);