diff --git a/drivers/block/cciss.c b/drivers/block/cciss.c
index 70ad24f3604f..1dc95740b3bb 100644
--- a/drivers/block/cciss.c
+++ b/drivers/block/cciss.c
@@ -907,60 +907,34 @@ static void cciss_destroy_ld_sysfs_entry(struct ctlr_info *h, int drv_index,
 /*
  * For operations that cannot sleep, a command block is allocated at init,
  * and managed by cmd_alloc() and cmd_free() using a simple bitmap to track
- * which ones are free or in use.  For operations that can wait for kmalloc
- * to possible sleep, this routine can be called with get_from_pool set to 0.
- * cmd_free() MUST be called with a got_from_pool set to 0 if cmd_alloc was.
+ * which ones are free or in use.
  */
-static CommandList_struct *cmd_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h, int get_from_pool)
+static CommandList_struct *cmd_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h)
 {
 	CommandList_struct *c;
 	int i;
 	u64bit temp64;
 	dma_addr_t cmd_dma_handle, err_dma_handle;
 
-	if (!get_from_pool) {
-		c = (CommandList_struct *) pci_alloc_consistent(h->pdev,
-			sizeof(CommandList_struct), &cmd_dma_handle);
-		if (c == NULL)
+	do {
+		i = find_first_zero_bit(h->cmd_pool_bits, h->nr_cmds);
+		if (i == h->nr_cmds)
 			return NULL;
-		memset(c, 0, sizeof(CommandList_struct));
-
-		c->cmdindex = -1;
-
-		c->err_info = (ErrorInfo_struct *)
-		    pci_alloc_consistent(h->pdev, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct),
-			    &err_dma_handle);
-
-		if (c->err_info == NULL) {
-			pci_free_consistent(h->pdev,
-				sizeof(CommandList_struct), c, cmd_dma_handle);
-			return NULL;
-		}
-		memset(c->err_info, 0, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct));
-	} else {		/* get it out of the controllers pool */
-
-		do {
-			i = find_first_zero_bit(h->cmd_pool_bits, h->nr_cmds);
-			if (i == h->nr_cmds)
-				return NULL;
-		} while (test_and_set_bit
-			 (i & (BITS_PER_LONG - 1),
-			  h->cmd_pool_bits + (i / BITS_PER_LONG)) != 0);
+	} while (test_and_set_bit(i & (BITS_PER_LONG - 1),
+		  h->cmd_pool_bits + (i / BITS_PER_LONG)) != 0);
 #ifdef CCISS_DEBUG
-		printk(KERN_DEBUG "cciss: using command buffer %d\n", i);
+	printk(KERN_DEBUG "cciss: using command buffer %d\n", i);
 #endif
-		c = h->cmd_pool + i;
-		memset(c, 0, sizeof(CommandList_struct));
-		cmd_dma_handle = h->cmd_pool_dhandle
-		    + i * sizeof(CommandList_struct);
-		c->err_info = h->errinfo_pool + i;
-		memset(c->err_info, 0, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct));
-		err_dma_handle = h->errinfo_pool_dhandle
-		    + i * sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct);
-		h->nr_allocs++;
+	c = h->cmd_pool + i;
+	memset(c, 0, sizeof(CommandList_struct));
+	cmd_dma_handle = h->cmd_pool_dhandle + i * sizeof(CommandList_struct);
+	c->err_info = h->errinfo_pool + i;
+	memset(c->err_info, 0, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct));
+	err_dma_handle = h->errinfo_pool_dhandle
+	    + i * sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct);
+	h->nr_allocs++;
 
-		c->cmdindex = i;
-	}
+	c->cmdindex = i;
 
 	INIT_HLIST_NODE(&c->list);
 	c->busaddr = (__u32) cmd_dma_handle;
@@ -973,27 +947,65 @@ static CommandList_struct *cmd_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h, int get_from_pool)
 	return c;
 }
 
-/*
- * Frees a command block that was previously allocated with cmd_alloc().
+/* allocate a command using pci_alloc_consistent, used for ioctls,
+ * etc., not for the main i/o path.
  */
-static void cmd_free(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c, int got_from_pool)
+static CommandList_struct *cmd_special_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h)
+{
+	CommandList_struct *c;
+	u64bit temp64;
+	dma_addr_t cmd_dma_handle, err_dma_handle;
+
+	c = (CommandList_struct *) pci_alloc_consistent(h->pdev,
+		sizeof(CommandList_struct), &cmd_dma_handle);
+	if (c == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+	memset(c, 0, sizeof(CommandList_struct));
+
+	c->cmdindex = -1;
+
+	c->err_info = (ErrorInfo_struct *)
+	    pci_alloc_consistent(h->pdev, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct),
+		    &err_dma_handle);
+
+	if (c->err_info == NULL) {
+		pci_free_consistent(h->pdev,
+			sizeof(CommandList_struct), c, cmd_dma_handle);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	memset(c->err_info, 0, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct));
+
+	INIT_HLIST_NODE(&c->list);
+	c->busaddr = (__u32) cmd_dma_handle;
+	temp64.val = (__u64) err_dma_handle;
+	c->ErrDesc.Addr.lower = temp64.val32.lower;
+	c->ErrDesc.Addr.upper = temp64.val32.upper;
+	c->ErrDesc.Len = sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct);
+
+	c->ctlr = h->ctlr;
+	return c;
+}
+
+static void cmd_free(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c)
 {
 	int i;
+
+	i = c - h->cmd_pool;
+	clear_bit(i & (BITS_PER_LONG - 1),
+		  h->cmd_pool_bits + (i / BITS_PER_LONG));
+	h->nr_frees++;
+}
+
+static void cmd_special_free(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c)
+{
 	u64bit temp64;
 
-	if (!got_from_pool) {
-		temp64.val32.lower = c->ErrDesc.Addr.lower;
-		temp64.val32.upper = c->ErrDesc.Addr.upper;
-		pci_free_consistent(h->pdev, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct),
-				    c->err_info, (dma_addr_t) temp64.val);
-		pci_free_consistent(h->pdev, sizeof(CommandList_struct),
-				    c, (dma_addr_t) c->busaddr);
-	} else {
-		i = c - h->cmd_pool;
-		clear_bit(i & (BITS_PER_LONG - 1),
-			  h->cmd_pool_bits + (i / BITS_PER_LONG));
-		h->nr_frees++;
-	}
+	temp64.val32.lower = c->ErrDesc.Addr.lower;
+	temp64.val32.upper = c->ErrDesc.Addr.upper;
+	pci_free_consistent(h->pdev, sizeof(ErrorInfo_struct),
+			    c->err_info, (dma_addr_t) temp64.val);
+	pci_free_consistent(h->pdev, sizeof(CommandList_struct),
+			    c, (dma_addr_t) c->busaddr);
 }
 
 static inline ctlr_info_t *get_host(struct gendisk *disk)
@@ -1470,7 +1482,7 @@ static int cciss_ioctl(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode,
 			} else {
 				memset(buff, 0, iocommand.buf_size);
 			}
-			c = cmd_alloc(h, 0);
+			c = cmd_special_alloc(h);
 			if (!c) {
 				kfree(buff);
 				return -ENOMEM;
@@ -1524,7 +1536,7 @@ static int cciss_ioctl(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode,
 			if (copy_to_user
 			    (argp, &iocommand, sizeof(IOCTL_Command_struct))) {
 				kfree(buff);
-				cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+				cmd_special_free(h, c);
 				return -EFAULT;
 			}
 
@@ -1533,12 +1545,12 @@ static int cciss_ioctl(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode,
 				if (copy_to_user
 				    (iocommand.buf, buff, iocommand.buf_size)) {
 					kfree(buff);
-					cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+					cmd_special_free(h, c);
 					return -EFAULT;
 				}
 			}
 			kfree(buff);
-			cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+			cmd_special_free(h, c);
 			return 0;
 		}
 	case CCISS_BIG_PASSTHRU:{
@@ -1620,7 +1632,7 @@ static int cciss_ioctl(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode,
 				data_ptr += sz;
 				sg_used++;
 			}
-			c = cmd_alloc(h, 0);
+			c = cmd_special_alloc(h);
 			if (!c) {
 				status = -ENOMEM;
 				goto cleanup1;
@@ -1668,7 +1680,7 @@ static int cciss_ioctl(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode,
 			/* Copy the error information out */
 			ioc->error_info = *(c->err_info);
 			if (copy_to_user(argp, ioc, sizeof(*ioc))) {
-				cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+				cmd_special_free(h, c);
 				status = -EFAULT;
 				goto cleanup1;
 			}
@@ -1678,14 +1690,14 @@ static int cciss_ioctl(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode,
 				for (i = 0; i < sg_used; i++) {
 					if (copy_to_user
 					    (ptr, buff[i], buff_size[i])) {
-						cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+						cmd_special_free(h, c);
 						status = -EFAULT;
 						goto cleanup1;
 					}
 					ptr += buff_size[i];
 				}
 			}
-			cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+			cmd_special_free(h, c);
 			status = 0;
 		      cleanup1:
 			if (buff) {
@@ -1813,7 +1825,7 @@ static void cciss_softirq_done(struct request *rq)
 	blk_end_request_all(rq, (rq->errors == 0) ? 0 : -EIO);
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&h->lock, flags);
-	cmd_free(h, c, 1);
+	cmd_free(h, c);
 	cciss_check_queues(h);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&h->lock, flags);
 }
@@ -2765,7 +2777,7 @@ static int sendcmd_withirq(ctlr_info_t *h, __u8 cmd, void *buff, size_t size,
 	CommandList_struct *c;
 	int return_status;
 
-	c = cmd_alloc(h, 0);
+	c = cmd_special_alloc(h);
 	if (!c)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	return_status = fill_cmd(h, c, cmd, buff, size, page_code,
@@ -2773,7 +2785,7 @@ static int sendcmd_withirq(ctlr_info_t *h, __u8 cmd, void *buff, size_t size,
 	if (return_status == IO_OK)
 		return_status = sendcmd_withirq_core(h, c, 1);
 
-	cmd_free(h, c, 0);
+	cmd_special_free(h, c);
 	return return_status;
 }
 
@@ -3240,7 +3252,8 @@ static void do_cciss_request(struct request_queue *q)
 
 	BUG_ON(creq->nr_phys_segments > h->maxsgentries);
 
-	if ((c = cmd_alloc(h, 1)) == NULL)
+	c = cmd_alloc(h);
+	if (!c)
 		goto full;
 
 	blk_start_request(creq);
diff --git a/drivers/block/cciss_scsi.c b/drivers/block/cciss_scsi.c
index 9133ad4c7b1b..9fe0d8ffc90d 100644
--- a/drivers/block/cciss_scsi.c
+++ b/drivers/block/cciss_scsi.c
@@ -49,8 +49,10 @@ static int fill_cmd(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c, __u8 cmd, void *buff,
 	__u8 page_code, unsigned char *scsi3addr,
 	int cmd_type);
 
-static CommandList_struct *cmd_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h, int get_from_pool);
-static void cmd_free(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c, int got_from_pool);
+static CommandList_struct *cmd_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h);
+static CommandList_struct *cmd_special_alloc(ctlr_info_t *h);
+static void cmd_free(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c);
+static void cmd_special_free(ctlr_info_t *h, CommandList_struct *c);
 
 static int cciss_scsi_proc_info(
 		struct Scsi_Host *sh,
@@ -1582,7 +1584,7 @@ static int wait_for_device_to_become_ready(ctlr_info_t *h,
 	int waittime = HZ;
 	CommandList_struct *c;
 
-	c = cmd_alloc(h, 1);
+	c = cmd_alloc(h);
 	if (!c) {
 		printk(KERN_WARNING "cciss%d: out of memory in "
 			"wait_for_device_to_become_ready.\n", h->ctlr);
@@ -1640,7 +1642,7 @@ retry_tur:
 	else
 		printk(KERN_WARNING "cciss%d: device is ready.\n", h->ctlr);
 
-	cmd_free(h, c, 1);
+	cmd_free(h, c);
 	return rc;
 }