diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/collection/unsafe/sort/UnsafeExternalSorter.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/collection/unsafe/sort/UnsafeExternalSorter.java
index af5a934b7da6..a49ccf60333f 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/collection/unsafe/sort/UnsafeExternalSorter.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/spark/util/collection/unsafe/sort/UnsafeExternalSorter.java
@@ -573,19 +573,29 @@ public boolean hasNext() {
 
     @Override
     public void loadNext() throws IOException {
-      synchronized (this) {
-        loaded = true;
-        if (nextUpstream != null) {
-          // Just consumed the last record from in memory iterator
-          if (lastPage != null) {
-            freePage(lastPage);
-            lastPage = null;
+      MemoryBlock pageToFree = null;
+      try {
+        synchronized (this) {
+          loaded = true;
+          if (nextUpstream != null) {
+            // Just consumed the last record from in memory iterator
+            if (lastPage != null) {
+              // Do not free the page here, while we are locking `SpillableIterator`. The `freePage`
+              // method locks the `TaskMemoryManager`, and it's a bad idea to lock 2 objects in
+              // sequence. We may hit dead lock if another thread locks `TaskMemoryManager` and
+              // `SpillableIterator` in sequence, which may happen in
+              // `TaskMemoryManager.acquireExecutionMemory`.
+              pageToFree = lastPage;
+              lastPage = null;
+            }
+            upstream = nextUpstream;
+            nextUpstream = null;
           }
-          upstream = nextUpstream;
-          nextUpstream = null;
+          numRecords--;
+          upstream.loadNext();
         }
-        numRecords--;
-        upstream.loadNext();
+      } finally {
+        if (pageToFree != null) freePage(pageToFree);
       }
     }