diff --git a/include/zephyr/irq.h b/include/zephyr/irq.h
index 7cbff4d581c77..b51c2234dc391 100644
--- a/include/zephyr/irq.h
+++ b/include/zephyr/irq.h
@@ -239,16 +239,13 @@ irq_disconnect_dynamic(unsigned int irq, unsigned int priority,
  * (for example, ARM) will fail silently if invoked from user mode instead
  * of generating an exception.
  *
- * @note
- * This routine can be called by ISRs or by threads. If it is called by a
- * thread, the interrupt lock is thread-specific; this means that interrupts
- * remain disabled only while the thread is running. If the thread performs an
- * operation that allows another thread to run (for example, giving a semaphore
- * or sleeping for N milliseconds), the interrupt lock no longer applies and
- * interrupts may be re-enabled while other processing occurs. When the thread
- * once again becomes the current thread, the kernel re-establishes its
- * interrupt lock; this ensures the thread won't be interrupted until it has
- * explicitly released the interrupt lock it established.
+ * This routine can be called by ISRs and threads.
+ *
+ * @warning
+ * As long as all recursive calls to irq_lock() have not been balanced with
+ * corresponding irq_unlock() calls, the caller "holds the interrupt lock".
+ *
+ * "Holding the interrupt lock" when a context switch occurs is illegal.
  *
  * @warning
  * The lock-out key should never be used to manually re-enable interrupts
diff --git a/include/zephyr/spinlock.h b/include/zephyr/spinlock.h
index 451e91cbd5475..e6f444ff05fdc 100644
--- a/include/zephyr/spinlock.h
+++ b/include/zephyr/spinlock.h
@@ -175,6 +175,9 @@ static ALWAYS_INLINE void z_spinlock_validate_post(struct k_spinlock *l)
  * in uniprocessor contexts such that the locking reduces to an
  * interrupt mask operation.
  *
+ * @warning
+ * Holding a spinlock when a context switch occurs is illegal.
+ *
  * @param l A pointer to the spinlock to lock
  * @return A key value that must be passed to k_spin_unlock() when the
  *         lock is released.
diff --git a/kernel/include/kswap.h b/kernel/include/kswap.h
index 0d790ed3a17d6..cff3efab6e90e 100644
--- a/kernel/include/kswap.h
+++ b/kernel/include/kswap.h
@@ -203,6 +203,16 @@ static inline int z_swap_irqlock(unsigned int key)
 {
 	int ret;
 	z_check_stack_sentinel();
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_SPIN_VALIDATE
+	/* Refer to comment in do_swap() above for details */
+# ifndef CONFIG_ARM64
+	__ASSERT(arch_irq_unlocked(key) ||
+		 _current->base.thread_state & (_THREAD_DUMMY | _THREAD_DEAD),
+		 "Context switching while holding lock!");
+# endif /* CONFIG_ARM64 */
+#endif /* CONFIG_SPIN_VALIDATE */
+
 	ret = arch_swap(key);
 	return ret;
 }