diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h
index 7a81ae2f00f90d050e559a5221b365c4c6ec90b6..36d407848f28d56a0bb88a3053d056917aaffd18 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h
@@ -1991,6 +1991,8 @@ void i915_gem_track_fb(struct drm_i915_gem_object *old,
  * an emission time with seqnos for tracking how far ahead of the GPU we are.
  */
 struct drm_i915_gem_request {
+	struct kref ref;
+
 	/** On Which ring this request was generated */
 	struct intel_engine_cs *ring;
 
@@ -2020,6 +2022,32 @@ struct drm_i915_gem_request {
 	struct list_head client_list;
 };
 
+void i915_gem_request_free(struct kref *req_ref);
+
+static inline void
+i915_gem_request_reference(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req)
+{
+	kref_get(&req->ref);
+}
+
+static inline void
+i915_gem_request_unreference(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req)
+{
+	kref_put(&req->ref, i915_gem_request_free);
+}
+
+static inline void i915_gem_request_assign(struct drm_i915_gem_request **pdst,
+					   struct drm_i915_gem_request *src)
+{
+	if (src)
+		i915_gem_request_reference(src);
+
+	if (*pdst)
+		i915_gem_request_unreference(*pdst);
+
+	*pdst = src;
+}
+
 struct drm_i915_file_private {
 	struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv;
 	struct drm_file *file;
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
index fa3f907ce229407538039e19084d3fc6000c4a57..ef45e2eac95230f9c8ec801ad598c2c3805e8a19 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
@@ -2569,21 +2569,30 @@ static void i915_set_reset_status(struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv,
 
 static void i915_gem_free_request(struct drm_i915_gem_request *request)
 {
-	struct intel_context *ctx = request->ctx;
-
 	list_del(&request->list);
 	i915_gem_request_remove_from_client(request);
 
+	i915_gem_request_unreference(request);
+}
+
+void i915_gem_request_free(struct kref *req_ref)
+{
+	struct drm_i915_gem_request *req = container_of(req_ref,
+						 typeof(*req), ref);
+	struct intel_context *ctx = req->ctx;
+
 	if (ctx) {
 		if (i915.enable_execlists) {
-			struct intel_engine_cs *ring = request->ring;
+			struct intel_engine_cs *ring = req->ring;
 
 			if (ctx != ring->default_context)
 				intel_lr_context_unpin(ring, ctx);
 		}
+
 		i915_gem_context_unreference(ctx);
 	}
-	kfree(request);
+
+	kfree(req);
 }
 
 struct drm_i915_gem_request *
@@ -2671,8 +2680,7 @@ static void i915_gem_reset_ring_cleanup(struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv,
 	}
 
 	/* These may not have been flush before the reset, do so now */
-	kfree(ring->preallocated_lazy_request);
-	ring->preallocated_lazy_request = NULL;
+	i915_gem_request_assign(&ring->preallocated_lazy_request, NULL);
 	ring->outstanding_lazy_seqno = 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
index cc49b8492ee4ce558d2f0bd514a36d3092c4a563..56c275d0a610210462e5cb65c1a310d060eca2bc 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
@@ -905,6 +905,8 @@ static int logical_ring_alloc_seqno(struct intel_engine_cs *ring,
 		}
 	}
 
+	kref_init(&request->ref);
+
 	ret = i915_gem_get_seqno(ring->dev, &ring->outstanding_lazy_seqno);
 	if (ret) {
 		intel_lr_context_unpin(ring, ctx);
@@ -1374,7 +1376,7 @@ void intel_logical_ring_cleanup(struct intel_engine_cs *ring)
 
 	intel_logical_ring_stop(ring);
 	WARN_ON((I915_READ_MODE(ring) & MODE_IDLE) == 0);
-	ring->preallocated_lazy_request = NULL;
+	i915_gem_request_assign(&ring->preallocated_lazy_request, NULL);
 	ring->outstanding_lazy_seqno = 0;
 
 	if (ring->cleanup)
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.c
index 9fe13075e5f95a2b333a2e46c6cfc9ba75bce3bc..fbeaa3ad6208aa37c55c13d6f29cdec720f8ad1a 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.c
@@ -1870,7 +1870,7 @@ void intel_cleanup_ring_buffer(struct intel_engine_cs *ring)
 
 	intel_unpin_ringbuffer_obj(ringbuf);
 	intel_destroy_ringbuffer_obj(ringbuf);
-	ring->preallocated_lazy_request = NULL;
+	i915_gem_request_assign(&ring->preallocated_lazy_request, NULL);
 	ring->outstanding_lazy_seqno = 0;
 
 	if (ring->cleanup)
@@ -2043,6 +2043,8 @@ intel_ring_alloc_seqno(struct intel_engine_cs *ring)
 	if (request == NULL)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	kref_init(&request->ref);
+
 	ret = i915_gem_get_seqno(ring->dev, &ring->outstanding_lazy_seqno);
 	if (ret) {
 		kfree(request);