diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_bo.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_bo.c
index 949ab0cbc4aba904c9d692c15c998b19b9589a3c..129aceed407deec24d55634a03b76933bbf18910 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_bo.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_bo.c
@@ -98,12 +98,7 @@ nv10_bo_put_tile_region(struct drm_device *dev, struct nouveau_drm_tile *tile,
 
 	if (tile) {
 		spin_lock(&drm->tile.lock);
-		if (fence) {
-			/* Mark it as pending. */
-			tile->fence = fence;
-			nouveau_fence_ref(fence);
-		}
-
+		tile->fence = nouveau_fence_ref(fence);
 		tile->used = false;
 		spin_unlock(&drm->tile.lock);
 	}
@@ -1462,14 +1457,12 @@ nouveau_ttm_tt_unpopulate(struct ttm_tt *ttm)
 void
 nouveau_bo_fence(struct nouveau_bo *nvbo, struct nouveau_fence *fence)
 {
+	struct nouveau_fence *new_fence = nouveau_fence_ref(fence);
 	struct nouveau_fence *old_fence = NULL;
 
-	if (likely(fence))
-		nouveau_fence_ref(fence);
-
 	spin_lock(&nvbo->bo.bdev->fence_lock);
 	old_fence = nvbo->bo.sync_obj;
-	nvbo->bo.sync_obj = fence;
+	nvbo->bo.sync_obj = new_fence;
 	spin_unlock(&nvbo->bo.bdev->fence_lock);
 
 	nouveau_fence_unref(&old_fence);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c
index 34b82711e7c810d96d624d7a7ec362c7f633e285..40cf52e6d6d21ffb818f70b2b01be3b5f5e02b95 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c
@@ -306,7 +306,8 @@ nouveau_fence_unref(struct nouveau_fence **pfence)
 struct nouveau_fence *
 nouveau_fence_ref(struct nouveau_fence *fence)
 {
-	kref_get(&fence->kref);
+	if (fence)
+		kref_get(&fence->kref);
 	return fence;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c
index 418a6177a65330a5074a16565cce9a40784f3c01..c60f65a815d3e74b1c998b0bf24bee9d600c8390 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c
@@ -106,8 +106,7 @@ nouveau_gem_object_unmap(struct nouveau_bo *nvbo, struct nouveau_vma *vma)
 
 	if (mapped) {
 		spin_lock(&nvbo->bo.bdev->fence_lock);
-		if (nvbo->bo.sync_obj)
-			fence = nouveau_fence_ref(nvbo->bo.sync_obj);
+		fence = nouveau_fence_ref(nvbo->bo.sync_obj);
 		spin_unlock(&nvbo->bo.bdev->fence_lock);
 	}
 
@@ -438,8 +437,7 @@ validate_sync(struct nouveau_channel *chan, struct nouveau_bo *nvbo)
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	spin_lock(&nvbo->bo.bdev->fence_lock);
-	if (nvbo->bo.sync_obj)
-		fence = nouveau_fence_ref(nvbo->bo.sync_obj);
+	fence = nouveau_fence_ref(nvbo->bo.sync_obj);
 	spin_unlock(&nvbo->bo.bdev->fence_lock);
 
 	if (fence) {