diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_abi16.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_abi16.c
index 41241922263f..3b6dc883e150 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_abi16.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_abi16.c
@@ -116,6 +116,11 @@ nouveau_abi16_chan_fini(struct nouveau_abi16 *abi16,
 {
 	struct nouveau_abi16_ntfy *ntfy, *temp;
 
+	/* wait for all activity to stop before releasing notify object, which
+	 * may be still in use */
+	if (chan->chan && chan->ntfy)
+		nouveau_channel_idle(chan->chan);
+
 	/* cleanup notifier state */
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(ntfy, temp, &chan->notifiers, head) {
 		nouveau_abi16_ntfy_fini(chan, ntfy);