diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_client_modeset.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_client_modeset.c
index 895b73f23079a7838cc926ab1e1728d88de13f71..4f03be9b2a836d561f929a1879ec0a1c9075de9e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_client_modeset.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_client_modeset.c
@@ -1022,15 +1022,17 @@ static int drm_client_modeset_commit_legacy(struct drm_client_dev *client)
 }
 
 /**
- * drm_client_modeset_commit_force() - Force commit CRTC configuration
+ * drm_client_modeset_commit_locked() - Force commit CRTC configuration
  * @client: DRM client
  *
- * Commit modeset configuration to crtcs without checking if there is a DRM master.
+ * Commit modeset configuration to crtcs without checking if there is a DRM
+ * master. The assumption is that the caller already holds an internal DRM
+ * master reference acquired with drm_master_internal_acquire().
  *
  * Returns:
  * Zero on success or negative error code on failure.
  */
-int drm_client_modeset_commit_force(struct drm_client_dev *client)
+int drm_client_modeset_commit_locked(struct drm_client_dev *client)
 {
 	struct drm_device *dev = client->dev;
 	int ret;
@@ -1044,7 +1046,7 @@ int drm_client_modeset_commit_force(struct drm_client_dev *client)
 
 	return ret;
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_client_modeset_commit_force);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_client_modeset_commit_locked);
 
 /**
  * drm_client_modeset_commit() - Commit CRTC configuration
@@ -1063,7 +1065,7 @@ int drm_client_modeset_commit(struct drm_client_dev *client)
 	if (!drm_master_internal_acquire(dev))
 		return -EBUSY;
 
-	ret = drm_client_modeset_commit_force(client);
+	ret = drm_client_modeset_commit_locked(client);
 
 	drm_master_internal_release(dev);
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
index 936a66e501e7994c38662166da677479a0ea9f38..f47454df0780080036a0094f83db6a24cd83a22f 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ static bool drm_fb_helper_force_kernel_mode(void)
 			continue;
 
 		mutex_lock(&helper->lock);
-		ret = drm_client_modeset_commit_force(&helper->client);
+		ret = drm_client_modeset_commit_locked(&helper->client);
 		if (ret)
 			error = true;
 		mutex_unlock(&helper->lock);
@@ -1342,7 +1342,7 @@ static int pan_display_atomic(struct fb_var_screeninfo *var,
 
 	pan_set(fb_helper, var->xoffset, var->yoffset);
 
-	ret = drm_client_modeset_commit_force(&fb_helper->client);
+	ret = drm_client_modeset_commit_locked(&fb_helper->client);
 	if (!ret) {
 		info->var.xoffset = var->xoffset;
 		info->var.yoffset = var->yoffset;
diff --git a/include/drm/drm_client.h b/include/drm/drm_client.h
index d01d311023accd841ef94c9cdcaf8262152e1d05..3ed5dee899fd16af8f3facdcc585e1e93ee47abd 100644
--- a/include/drm/drm_client.h
+++ b/include/drm/drm_client.h
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ int drm_client_modeset_create(struct drm_client_dev *client);
 void drm_client_modeset_free(struct drm_client_dev *client);
 int drm_client_modeset_probe(struct drm_client_dev *client, unsigned int width, unsigned int height);
 bool drm_client_rotation(struct drm_mode_set *modeset, unsigned int *rotation);
-int drm_client_modeset_commit_force(struct drm_client_dev *client);
+int drm_client_modeset_commit_locked(struct drm_client_dev *client);
 int drm_client_modeset_commit(struct drm_client_dev *client);
 int drm_client_modeset_dpms(struct drm_client_dev *client, int mode);