diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c
index 59e30b8c4ee9..bcf3c1a155e2 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.c
@@ -813,6 +813,7 @@ emit_semaphore_wait(struct i915_request *to,
 	*cs++ = 0;
 
 	intel_ring_advance(to, cs);
+	to->sched.flags |= I915_SCHED_HAS_SEMAPHORE;
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1083,6 +1084,21 @@ void i915_request_add(struct i915_request *request)
 	if (engine->schedule) {
 		struct i915_sched_attr attr = request->gem_context->sched;
 
+		/*
+		 * Boost actual workloads past semaphores!
+		 *
+		 * With semaphores we spin on one engine waiting for another,
+		 * simply to reduce the latency of starting our work when
+		 * the signaler completes. However, if there is any other
+		 * work that we could be doing on this engine instead, that
+		 * is better utilisation and will reduce the overall duration
+		 * of the current work. To avoid PI boosting a semaphore
+		 * far in the distance past over useful work, we keep a history
+		 * of any semaphore use along our dependency chain.
+		 */
+		if (!(request->sched.flags & I915_SCHED_HAS_SEMAPHORE))
+			attr.priority |= I915_PRIORITY_NOSEMAPHORE;
+
 		/*
 		 * Boost priorities to new clients (new request flows).
 		 *
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.c
index 50018ad30233..3f0a4d56bd37 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ void i915_sched_node_init(struct i915_sched_node *node)
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&node->waiters_list);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&node->link);
 	node->attr.priority = I915_PRIORITY_INVALID;
+	node->flags = 0;
 }
 
 static struct i915_dependency *
@@ -69,6 +70,11 @@ bool __i915_sched_node_add_dependency(struct i915_sched_node *node,
 		dep->signaler = signal;
 		dep->flags = flags;
 
+		/* Keep track of whether anyone on this chain has a semaphore */
+		if (signal->flags & I915_SCHED_HAS_SEMAPHORE &&
+		    !node_started(signal))
+			node->flags |= I915_SCHED_HAS_SEMAPHORE;
+
 		ret = true;
 	}
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.h
index 7d4a49750d92..6ce450cf63fa 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_scheduler.h
@@ -24,14 +24,15 @@ enum {
 	I915_PRIORITY_INVALID = INT_MIN
 };
 
-#define I915_USER_PRIORITY_SHIFT 2
+#define I915_USER_PRIORITY_SHIFT 3
 #define I915_USER_PRIORITY(x) ((x) << I915_USER_PRIORITY_SHIFT)
 
 #define I915_PRIORITY_COUNT BIT(I915_USER_PRIORITY_SHIFT)
 #define I915_PRIORITY_MASK (I915_PRIORITY_COUNT - 1)
 
-#define I915_PRIORITY_WAIT	((u8)BIT(0))
-#define I915_PRIORITY_NEWCLIENT	((u8)BIT(1))
+#define I915_PRIORITY_WAIT		((u8)BIT(0))
+#define I915_PRIORITY_NEWCLIENT		((u8)BIT(1))
+#define I915_PRIORITY_NOSEMAPHORE	((u8)BIT(2))
 
 #define __NO_PREEMPTION (I915_PRIORITY_WAIT)
 
@@ -74,6 +75,8 @@ struct i915_sched_node {
 	struct list_head waiters_list; /* those after us, they depend upon us */
 	struct list_head link;
 	struct i915_sched_attr attr;
+	unsigned int flags;
+#define I915_SCHED_HAS_SEMAPHORE	BIT(0)
 };
 
 struct i915_dependency {
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
index 6c9479acb433..578c8c98c718 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_lrc.c
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@
 #define WA_TAIL_DWORDS 2
 #define WA_TAIL_BYTES (sizeof(u32) * WA_TAIL_DWORDS)
 
-#define ACTIVE_PRIORITY (I915_PRIORITY_NEWCLIENT)
+#define ACTIVE_PRIORITY (I915_PRIORITY_NEWCLIENT | I915_PRIORITY_NOSEMAPHORE)
 
 static int execlists_context_deferred_alloc(struct i915_gem_context *ctx,
 					    struct intel_engine_cs *engine,