diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_channel.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_channel.c
index a319d5646ea9..bb6ec9ef8676 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_channel.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_channel.c
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ nouveau_channel_alloc(struct drm_device *dev, struct nouveau_channel **chan_ret,
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&chan->nvsw.vbl_wait);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&chan->nvsw.flip);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&chan->fence.pending);
+	spin_lock_init(&chan->fence.lock);
 
 	/* setup channel's memory and vm */
 	ret = nouveau_gpuobj_channel_init(chan, vram_handle, gart_handle);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c
index 81116cfea275..2f6daae68b9d 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_fence.c
@@ -539,8 +539,6 @@ nouveau_fence_channel_init(struct nouveau_channel *chan)
 			return ret;
 	}
 
-	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&chan->fence.pending);
-	spin_lock_init(&chan->fence.lock);
 	atomic_set(&chan->fence.last_sequence_irq, 0);
 	return 0;
 }