diff --git a/arch/mips/au1000/common/dbdma.c b/arch/mips/au1000/common/dbdma.c
index 6ee090bd86c9a78bf215179033f5a195e3542d91..e8dd72cf860a67b8df497e4a54c58b7be101dab6 100644
--- a/arch/mips/au1000/common/dbdma.c
+++ b/arch/mips/au1000/common/dbdma.c
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ au1xxx_dbdma_chan_alloc(u32 srcid, u32 destid,
 				/* If kmalloc fails, it is caught below same
 				 * as a channel not available.
 				 */
-				ctp = kmalloc(sizeof(chan_tab_t), GFP_KERNEL);
+				ctp = kmalloc(sizeof(chan_tab_t), GFP_ATOMIC);
 				chan_tab_ptr[i] = ctp;
 				break;
 			}