diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c
index 46dae33c1a20..ca5361eb1f0b 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c
@@ -837,8 +837,8 @@ i915_request_await_start(struct i915_request *rq, struct i915_request *signal)
 	struct dma_fence *fence;
 	int err;
 
-	GEM_BUG_ON(i915_request_timeline(rq) ==
-		   rcu_access_pointer(signal->timeline));
+	if (i915_request_timeline(rq) == rcu_access_pointer(signal->timeline))
+		return 0;
 
 	if (i915_request_started(signal))
 		return 0;