diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c
index b84ee7a323d2..15a76096fbb0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_debugfs.c
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ static int i915_gem_object_info(struct seq_file *m, void *data)
 		mutex_lock(&dev->struct_mutex);
 		request = list_first_entry_or_null(&file_priv->mm.request_list,
 						   struct drm_i915_gem_request,
-						   client_list);
+						   client_link);
 		rcu_read_lock();
 		task = pid_task(request && request->ctx->pid ?
 				request->ctx->pid : file->pid,
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
index 275e9e0799b9..edc59bd45f53 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
@@ -3666,16 +3666,14 @@ i915_gem_ring_throttle(struct drm_device *dev, struct drm_file *file)
 		return -EIO;
 
 	spin_lock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
-	list_for_each_entry(request, &file_priv->mm.request_list, client_list) {
+	list_for_each_entry(request, &file_priv->mm.request_list, client_link) {
 		if (time_after_eq(request->emitted_jiffies, recent_enough))
 			break;
 
-		/*
-		 * Note that the request might not have been submitted yet.
-		 * In which case emitted_jiffies will be zero.
-		 */
-		if (!request->emitted_jiffies)
-			continue;
+		if (target) {
+			list_del(&target->client_link);
+			target->file_priv = NULL;
+		}
 
 		target = request;
 	}
@@ -4734,7 +4732,7 @@ void i915_gem_release(struct drm_device *dev, struct drm_file *file)
 	 * file_priv.
 	 */
 	spin_lock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
-	list_for_each_entry(request, &file_priv->mm.request_list, client_list)
+	list_for_each_entry(request, &file_priv->mm.request_list, client_link)
 		request->file_priv = NULL;
 	spin_unlock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c
index aa75ea2d0578..dd7181ed5eca 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c
@@ -1407,6 +1407,14 @@ out:
 	return vma;
 }
 
+static void
+add_to_client(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req,
+	      struct drm_file *file)
+{
+	req->file_priv = file->driver_priv;
+	list_add_tail(&req->client_link, &req->file_priv->mm.request_list);
+}
+
 static int
 execbuf_submit(struct i915_execbuffer_params *params,
 	       struct drm_i915_gem_execbuffer2 *args,
@@ -1772,10 +1780,6 @@ i915_gem_do_execbuffer(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 	 */
 	params->request->batch = params->batch;
 
-	ret = i915_gem_request_add_to_client(params->request, file);
-	if (ret)
-		goto err_request;
-
 	/*
 	 * Save assorted stuff away to pass through to *_submission().
 	 * NB: This data should be 'persistent' and not local as it will
@@ -1793,6 +1797,8 @@ i915_gem_do_execbuffer(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 	ret = execbuf_submit(params, args, &eb->vmas);
 err_request:
 	__i915_add_request(params->request, ret == 0);
+	add_to_client(params->request, file);
+
 	if (out_fence) {
 		if (ret == 0) {
 			fd_install(out_fence_fd, out_fence->file);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c
index b881d4e1bd1e..c2cee9674cb0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.c
@@ -82,42 +82,20 @@ const struct dma_fence_ops i915_fence_ops = {
 	.release = i915_fence_release,
 };
 
-int i915_gem_request_add_to_client(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req,
-				   struct drm_file *file)
-{
-	struct drm_i915_private *dev_private;
-	struct drm_i915_file_private *file_priv;
-
-	WARN_ON(!req || !file || req->file_priv);
-
-	if (!req || !file)
-		return -EINVAL;
-
-	if (req->file_priv)
-		return -EINVAL;
-
-	dev_private = req->i915;
-	file_priv = file->driver_priv;
-
-	spin_lock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
-	req->file_priv = file_priv;
-	list_add_tail(&req->client_list, &file_priv->mm.request_list);
-	spin_unlock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static inline void
 i915_gem_request_remove_from_client(struct drm_i915_gem_request *request)
 {
-	struct drm_i915_file_private *file_priv = request->file_priv;
+	struct drm_i915_file_private *file_priv;
 
+	file_priv = request->file_priv;
 	if (!file_priv)
 		return;
 
 	spin_lock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
-	list_del(&request->client_list);
-	request->file_priv = NULL;
+	if (request->file_priv) {
+		list_del(&request->client_link);
+		request->file_priv = NULL;
+	}
 	spin_unlock(&file_priv->mm.lock);
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h
index 0efee879df23..5018e55922f0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_request.h
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ struct drm_i915_gem_request {
 
 	struct drm_i915_file_private *file_priv;
 	/** file_priv list entry for this request */
-	struct list_head client_list;
+	struct list_head client_link;
 };
 
 extern const struct dma_fence_ops i915_fence_ops;
@@ -193,8 +193,6 @@ static inline bool dma_fence_is_i915(const struct dma_fence *fence)
 struct drm_i915_gem_request * __must_check
 i915_gem_request_alloc(struct intel_engine_cs *engine,
 		       struct i915_gem_context *ctx);
-int i915_gem_request_add_to_client(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req,
-				   struct drm_file *file);
 void i915_gem_request_retire_upto(struct drm_i915_gem_request *req);
 
 static inline struct drm_i915_gem_request *