diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
index 674e0eaf39ea..89a5f8d948e7 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
@@ -2549,6 +2549,9 @@ i915_gem_find_active_request(struct intel_engine_cs *engine)
 		if (i915_gem_request_completed(request))
 			continue;
 
+		if (!i915_sw_fence_done(&request->submit))
+			break;
+
 		return request;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c
index 64c370681a81..074fc06ff488 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c
@@ -318,6 +318,26 @@ static int i915_gem_get_seqno(struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv, u32 *seqno)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int __i915_sw_fence_call
+submit_notify(struct i915_sw_fence *fence, enum i915_sw_fence_notify state)
+{
+	struct drm_i915_gem_request *request =
+		container_of(fence, typeof(*request), submit);
+
+	/* Will be called from irq-context when using foreign DMA fences */
+
+	switch (state) {
+	case FENCE_COMPLETE:
+		request->engine->submit_request(request);
+		break;
+
+	case FENCE_FREE:
+		break;
+	}
+
+	return NOTIFY_DONE;
+}
+
 /**
  * i915_gem_request_alloc - allocate a request structure
  *
@@ -396,6 +416,8 @@ i915_gem_request_alloc(struct intel_engine_cs *engine,
 		   engine->fence_context,
 		   seqno);
 
+	i915_sw_fence_init(&req->submit, submit_notify);
+
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&req->active_list);
 	req->i915 = dev_priv;
 	req->engine = engine;
@@ -530,7 +552,10 @@ void __i915_add_request(struct drm_i915_gem_request *request, bool flush_caches)
 		  reserved_tail, ret);
 
 	i915_gem_mark_busy(engine);
-	engine->submit_request(request);
+
+	local_bh_disable();
+	i915_sw_fence_commit(&request->submit);
+	local_bh_enable(); /* Kick the execlists tasklet if just scheduled */
 }
 
 static void reset_wait_queue(wait_queue_head_t *q, wait_queue_t *wait)
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h
index def35721e9ed..e141b1cca16a 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <linux/fence.h>
 
 #include "i915_gem.h"
+#include "i915_sw_fence.h"
 
 struct intel_wait {
 	struct rb_node node;
@@ -82,6 +83,8 @@ struct drm_i915_gem_request {
 	struct intel_ring *ring;
 	struct intel_signal_node signaling;
 
+	struct i915_sw_fence submit;
+
 	/** GEM sequence number associated with the previous request,
 	 * when the HWS breadcrumb is equal to this the GPU is processing
 	 * this request.
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_guc_submission.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_guc_submission.c
index d5a4e9edccc5..0eb6b71935cf 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_guc_submission.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_guc_submission.c
@@ -1016,7 +1016,8 @@ int i915_guc_submission_enable(struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv)
 
 		/* Replay the current set of previously submitted requests */
 		list_for_each_entry(request, &engine->request_list, link)
-			i915_guc_submit(request);
+			if (i915_sw_fence_done(&request->submit))
+				i915_guc_submit(request);
 	}
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_breadcrumbs.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_breadcrumbs.c
index 2491e4c1eaf0..9bad14d22c95 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_breadcrumbs.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_breadcrumbs.c
@@ -462,7 +462,10 @@ static int intel_breadcrumbs_signaler(void *arg)
 			 */
 			intel_engine_remove_wait(engine,
 						 &request->signaling.wait);
+
+			local_bh_disable();
 			fence_signal(&request->fence);
+			local_bh_enable(); /* kick start the tasklets */
 
 			/* Find the next oldest signal. Note that as we have
 			 * not been holding the lock, another client may
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
index 61549a623e2c..16d7cdd11082 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
@@ -590,14 +590,15 @@ static void intel_lrc_irq_handler(unsigned long data)
 static void execlists_submit_request(struct drm_i915_gem_request *request)
 {
 	struct intel_engine_cs *engine = request->engine;
+	unsigned long flags;
 
-	spin_lock_bh(&engine->execlist_lock);
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&engine->execlist_lock, flags);
 
 	list_add_tail(&request->execlist_link, &engine->execlist_queue);
 	if (execlists_elsp_idle(engine))
 		tasklet_hi_schedule(&engine->irq_tasklet);
 
-	spin_unlock_bh(&engine->execlist_lock);
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&engine->execlist_lock, flags);
 }
 
 int intel_logical_ring_alloc_request_extras(struct drm_i915_gem_request *request)
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.h
index 32f527447310..7f64d611159b 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_ringbuffer.h
@@ -226,7 +226,15 @@ struct intel_engine_cs {
 #define I915_DISPATCH_PINNED BIT(1)
 #define I915_DISPATCH_RS     BIT(2)
 	int		(*emit_request)(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req);
+
+	/* Pass the request to the hardware queue (e.g. directly into
+	 * the legacy ringbuffer or to the end of an execlist).
+	 *
+	 * This is called from an atomic context with irqs disabled; must
+	 * be irq safe.
+	 */
 	void		(*submit_request)(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req);
+
 	/* Some chipsets are not quite as coherent as advertised and need
 	 * an expensive kick to force a true read of the up-to-date seqno.
 	 * However, the up-to-date seqno is not always required and the last