diff --git a/src/mediapipe_internal/mediapipefactory.cpp b/src/mediapipe_internal/mediapipefactory.cpp
index 5f8deebd6b..0be6d4b3bf 100644
--- a/src/mediapipe_internal/mediapipefactory.cpp
+++ b/src/mediapipe_internal/mediapipefactory.cpp
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ Status MediapipeFactory::create(std::unique_ptr<MediapipeGraphExecutor>& pipelin
         return StatusCode::MEDIAPIPE_DEFINITION_NAME_MISSING;
     }
     auto& definition = *it->second;
+    // Unlock before create() which may block on graph queue, avoiding writer starvation.
+    lock.unlock();
     return definition.create(pipeline);
 }