diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/Kconfig.debug b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/Kconfig.debug
index 1545344d371cfd8d1df7767873821aeda87e7c9a..be76054c01d88a2647468c9f708e7c67e52625ca 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/Kconfig.debug
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ config DRM_I915_DEBUG
 	select SW_SYNC # signaling validation framework (igt/syncobj*)
 	select DRM_I915_WERROR
 	select DRM_I915_DEBUG_GEM
+	select DRM_I915_DEBUG_GEM_ONCE
 	select DRM_I915_DEBUG_MMIO
 	select DRM_I915_DEBUG_RUNTIME_PM
 	select DRM_I915_SW_FENCE_DEBUG_OBJECTS
@@ -71,6 +72,21 @@ config DRM_I915_DEBUG_GEM
 
 	  If in doubt, say "N".
 
+config DRM_I915_DEBUG_GEM_ONCE
+	bool "Make a GEM debug failure fatal"
+	default n
+	depends on DRM_I915_DEBUG_GEM
+	help
+	  During development, we often only want the very first failure
+	  as that would otherwise be lost in the deluge of subsequent
+	  failures. However, more casual testers may not want to trigger
+	  a hard BUG_ON and hope that the system remains sufficiently usable
+	  to capture a bug report in situ.
+
+	  Recommended for driver developers only.
+
+	  If in doubt, say "N".
+
 config DRM_I915_ERRLOG_GEM
 	bool "Insert extra logging (very verbose) for common GEM errors"
 	default n
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.h
index a4cad3f154caf189c4b5731e47b1a87ebd757182..e622aee6e4be90a599f29ae3496108714580f67a 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.h
@@ -38,11 +38,18 @@ struct drm_i915_private;
 
 #define GEM_SHOW_DEBUG() drm_debug_enabled(DRM_UT_DRIVER)
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_DRM_I915_DEBUG_GEM_ONCE
+#define __GEM_BUG(cond) BUG()
+#else
+#define __GEM_BUG(cond) \
+	WARN(1, "%s:%d GEM_BUG_ON(%s)\n", __func__, __LINE__, __stringify(cond))
+#endif
+
 #define GEM_BUG_ON(condition) do { if (unlikely((condition))) {	\
 		GEM_TRACE_ERR("%s:%d GEM_BUG_ON(%s)\n", \
 			      __func__, __LINE__, __stringify(condition)); \
 		GEM_TRACE_DUMP(); \
-		BUG(); \
+		__GEM_BUG(condition); \
 		} \
 	} while(0)
 #define GEM_WARN_ON(expr) WARN_ON(expr)