diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c
index a8e7761cdc7d..15e86d34a81c 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c
@@ -4226,8 +4226,13 @@ i915_drop_caches_set(void *data, u64 val)
 		i915_gem_shrink_all(dev_priv);
 	fs_reclaim_release(GFP_KERNEL);
 
-	if (val & DROP_IDLE)
-		drain_delayed_work(&dev_priv->gt.idle_work);
+	if (val & DROP_IDLE) {
+		do {
+			if (READ_ONCE(dev_priv->gt.active_requests))
+				flush_delayed_work(&dev_priv->gt.retire_work);
+			drain_delayed_work(&dev_priv->gt.idle_work);
+		} while (READ_ONCE(dev_priv->gt.awake));
+	}
 
 	if (val & DROP_FREED)
 		i915_gem_drain_freed_objects(dev_priv);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
index 530d6d0109b4..173d1e4ad963 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
@@ -139,6 +139,8 @@ int i915_mutex_lock_interruptible(struct drm_device *dev)
 
 static u32 __i915_gem_park(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 {
+	GEM_TRACE("\n");
+
 	lockdep_assert_held(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
 	GEM_BUG_ON(i915->gt.active_requests);
 	GEM_BUG_ON(!list_empty(&i915->gt.active_rings));
@@ -181,6 +183,8 @@ static u32 __i915_gem_park(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 
 void i915_gem_park(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 {
+	GEM_TRACE("\n");
+
 	lockdep_assert_held(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
 	GEM_BUG_ON(i915->gt.active_requests);
 
@@ -193,6 +197,8 @@ void i915_gem_park(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 
 void i915_gem_unpark(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 {
+	GEM_TRACE("\n");
+
 	lockdep_assert_held(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
 	GEM_BUG_ON(!i915->gt.active_requests);
 
@@ -3503,6 +3509,24 @@ i915_gem_idle_work_handler(struct work_struct *work)
 	if (!READ_ONCE(dev_priv->gt.awake))
 		return;
 
+	if (READ_ONCE(dev_priv->gt.active_requests))
+		return;
+
+	/*
+	 * Flush out the last user context, leaving only the pinned
+	 * kernel context resident. When we are idling on the kernel_context,
+	 * no more new requests (with a context switch) are emitted and we
+	 * can finally rest. A consequence is that the idle work handler is
+	 * always called at least twice before idling (and if the system is
+	 * idle that implies a round trip through the retire worker).
+	 */
+	mutex_lock(&dev_priv->drm.struct_mutex);
+	i915_gem_switch_to_kernel_context(dev_priv);
+	mutex_unlock(&dev_priv->drm.struct_mutex);
+
+	GEM_TRACE("active_requests=%d (after switch-to-kernel-context)\n",
+		  READ_ONCE(dev_priv->gt.active_requests));
+
 	/*
 	 * Wait for last execlists context complete, but bail out in case a
 	 * new request is submitted. As we don't trust the hardware, we
@@ -4913,11 +4937,9 @@ static void assert_kernel_context_is_current(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 
 void i915_gem_sanitize(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 {
-	if (i915_terminally_wedged(&i915->gpu_error)) {
-		mutex_lock(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
+	mutex_lock(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
+	if (i915_terminally_wedged(&i915->gpu_error))
 		i915_gem_unset_wedged(i915);
-		mutex_unlock(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
-	}
 
 	/*
 	 * If we inherit context state from the BIOS or earlier occupants
@@ -4929,6 +4951,9 @@ void i915_gem_sanitize(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 	 */
 	if (INTEL_GEN(i915) >= 5 && intel_has_gpu_reset(i915))
 		WARN_ON(intel_gpu_reset(i915, ALL_ENGINES));
+
+	i915_gem_contexts_lost(i915);
+	mutex_unlock(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
 }
 
 int i915_gem_suspend(struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv)
@@ -4964,7 +4989,6 @@ int i915_gem_suspend(struct drm_i915_private *dev_priv)
 
 		assert_kernel_context_is_current(dev_priv);
 	}
-	i915_gem_contexts_lost(dev_priv);
 	mutex_unlock(&dev->struct_mutex);
 
 	intel_uc_suspend(dev_priv);
@@ -5017,6 +5041,8 @@ err_unlock:
 
 void i915_gem_resume(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 {
+	GEM_TRACE("\n");
+
 	WARN_ON(i915->gt.awake);
 
 	mutex_lock(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_context.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_context.c
index 45393f6e0208..81f086397d10 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_context.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_context.c
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ int i915_gem_switch_to_kernel_context(struct drm_i915_private *i915)
 	struct intel_engine_cs *engine;
 	enum intel_engine_id id;
 
-	GEM_TRACE("\n");
+	GEM_TRACE("awake?=%s\n", yesno(i915->gt.awake));
 
 	lockdep_assert_held(&i915->drm.struct_mutex);
 	GEM_BUG_ON(!i915->kernel_context);