diff --git a/csrc/cpu/comm/ccl.cpp b/csrc/cpu/comm/ccl.cpp
index 4a06b3239419..7d94603b9de6 100644
--- a/csrc/cpu/comm/ccl.cpp
+++ b/csrc/cpu/comm/ccl.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,15 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <oneapi/ccl.hpp>
 
+// states for collectives
+enum coll_state {
+    coll_begin = 0,
+    // coll states for naive allreduce
+    coll_allreduce_naive__copy_in_done,   // this state is for rank != 0
+    coll_allreduce_naive__reduce_done,    // this state is for rank == 0
+    coll_allreduce_naive__copy_out_done,  // this state is for rank != 0
+};
+
 // SHM building blocks
 struct SharedData {
     const char* name;
@@ -63,19 +72,27 @@ void shared_close(SharedData* data)
 #define SHM_BUFFER_NAME "deepspeed_allreduce_buffer"
 SharedData allreduce_buffer;
 struct allreduce_workspace {
-    int state;
+    enum coll_state state;
     char buffer[MAX_BUF_SIZE];
 };
 struct allreduce_workspace* workspace;
 
-void wait_buffer_state_until(int index, int state)
+void wait_buffer_state_until(int index, enum coll_state state)
 {
-    volatile int* state_ptr = &(workspace[index].state);
+    volatile enum coll_state* state_ptr = &(workspace[index].state);
 
     while (*state_ptr != state)
         ;
 }
 
+void wait_buffer_state_until_not(int index, enum coll_state state)
+{
+    volatile enum coll_state* state_ptr = &(workspace[index].state);
+
+    while (*state_ptr == state)
+        ;
+}
+
 __m512 cvt_bf16_to_fp32(const __m256i src) __attribute__((target("avx512bw")));
 inline __m512 cvt_bf16_to_fp32(const __m256i src)
 {
@@ -313,7 +330,7 @@ void initialize(int size, int rank, torch::Tensor& kvs_data)
                           workspace,
                           size * sizeof(struct allreduce_workspace));
             workspace = (struct allreduce_workspace*)allreduce_buffer.bytes;
-            for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) { workspace[i].state = 0; }
+            for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) { workspace[i].state = coll_begin; }
         }
         CCLCHECK(ccl::barrier(_get_comm_from_group()).wait());
         if (rank != 0) {
@@ -506,33 +523,38 @@ void inference_all_reduce(torch::Tensor& data, py::object op, py::object group,
 
     memcpy(workspace[world_rank].buffer, data_ptr, data_size);
     std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_release);
-    workspace[world_rank].state = 1;
+    workspace[world_rank].state = coll_allreduce_naive__copy_in_done;
 
     if (world_rank == 0) {
         // compute allreduce result on rank 0
         for (int i = 1; i < world_size; i++) {
             // wait until the other rank copy the buffer
-            wait_buffer_state_until(i, 1);
+            wait_buffer_state_until(i, coll_allreduce_naive__copy_in_done);
         }
         reduce_all_buffers(workspace, numel, data.scalar_type(), world_size);
         std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_release);
-        workspace[world_rank].state = 2;
+        workspace[world_rank].state = coll_allreduce_naive__reduce_done;
         memcpy(data_ptr, workspace[0].buffer, data_size);
     }
     if (world_rank != 0) {
-        wait_buffer_state_until(0, 2);
+        wait_buffer_state_until(0, coll_allreduce_naive__reduce_done);
         memcpy(data_ptr, workspace[0].buffer, data_size);
         std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_release);
-        workspace[world_rank].state = 2;
+        workspace[world_rank].state = coll_allreduce_naive__copy_out_done;
     }
     if (world_rank == 0) {
-        for (int i = 1; i < world_size; i++) { wait_buffer_state_until(i, 2); }
+        for (int i = 1; i < world_size; i++) {
+            wait_buffer_state_until(i, coll_allreduce_naive__copy_out_done);
+        }
         std::atomic_thread_fence(std::memory_order_release);
-        workspace[world_rank].state = 0;
+        workspace[world_rank].state = coll_begin;
     }
     if (world_rank != 0) {
-        wait_buffer_state_until(0, 0);
-        workspace[world_rank].state = 0;
+        // if rank 0 spin too fast it could be in state 1 of next allreduce
+        // in this case wait_buffer_state_until(0, 0) may cause deadlock
+        // what we are certain is when rank 0 finishes the state won't be 2
+        wait_buffer_state_until_not(0, coll_allreduce_naive__reduce_done);
+        workspace[world_rank].state = coll_begin;
     }
 }