diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fops.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fops.c
index ee2d330a2fa0..3a7176ce2540 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fops.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fops.c
@@ -239,7 +239,8 @@ static int drm_open_helper(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp,
 
 	priv->ioctl_count = 0;
 	/* for compatibility root is always authenticated */
-	priv->authenticated = capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN);
+	priv->always_authenticated = capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN);
+	priv->authenticated = priv->always_authenticated;
 	priv->lock_count = 0;
 
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&priv->lhead);
@@ -533,7 +534,7 @@ int drm_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 		list_for_each_entry(temp, &dev->filelist, lhead) {
 			if ((temp->master == file_priv->master) &&
 			    (temp != file_priv))
-				temp->authenticated = 0;
+				temp->authenticated = temp->always_authenticated;
 		}
 
 		/**
diff --git a/include/drm/drmP.h b/include/drm/drmP.h
index 444751b9aa89..ea8bff3c8468 100644
--- a/include/drm/drmP.h
+++ b/include/drm/drmP.h
@@ -413,6 +413,7 @@ struct drm_prime_file_private {
 
 /** File private data */
 struct drm_file {
+	int always_authenticated;
 	int authenticated;
 	struct pid *pid;
 	kuid_t uid;