diff --git a/drivers/dma/imx-dma.c b/drivers/dma/imx-dma.c
index 78f8ca5fccee..442af6189cbc 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/imx-dma.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/imx-dma.c
@@ -883,7 +883,7 @@ static struct dma_async_tx_descriptor *imxdma_prep_dma_cyclic(
 	kfree(imxdmac->sg_list);
 
 	imxdmac->sg_list = kcalloc(periods + 1,
-			sizeof(struct scatterlist), GFP_KERNEL);
+			sizeof(struct scatterlist), GFP_ATOMIC);
 	if (!imxdmac->sg_list)
 		return NULL;