diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_sw_fence.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_sw_fence.h
index 1e90d9a51bd222a79629a69e853d280e85056cf9..19e806ce43bcac5630a58bf8ac2b5cec7879527d 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_sw_fence.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_sw_fence.h
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ static inline void i915_sw_fence_wait(struct i915_sw_fence *fence)
 static inline void
 i915_sw_fence_set_error_once(struct i915_sw_fence *fence, int error)
 {
-	cmpxchg(&fence->error, 0, error);
+	if (unlikely(error))
+		cmpxchg(&fence->error, 0, error);
 }
 
 #endif /* _I915_SW_FENCE_H_ */