diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_lrc.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_lrc.c
index 7f2d28bf9ea3..a07baeb897fe 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_lrc.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/intel_lrc.c
@@ -1208,7 +1208,8 @@ static bool can_merge_rq(const struct i915_request *prev,
 	if (i915_request_completed(next))
 		return true;
 
-	if (unlikely(prev->flags ^ next->flags) & I915_REQUEST_NOPREEMPT)
+	if (unlikely((prev->flags ^ next->flags) &
+		     (I915_REQUEST_NOPREEMPT | I915_REQUEST_SENTINEL)))
 		return false;
 
 	if (!can_merge_ctx(prev->hw_context, next->hw_context))
@@ -1659,6 +1660,9 @@ static void execlists_dequeue(struct intel_engine_cs *engine)
 				if (last->hw_context == rq->hw_context)
 					goto done;
 
+				if (i915_request_has_sentinel(last))
+					goto done;
+
 				/*
 				 * If GVT overrides us we only ever submit
 				 * port[0], leaving port[1] empty. Note that we
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.h
index 6a95242b280d..96991d64759c 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_request.h
@@ -216,8 +216,9 @@ struct i915_request {
 	unsigned long emitted_jiffies;
 
 	unsigned long flags;
-#define I915_REQUEST_WAITBOOST BIT(0)
-#define I915_REQUEST_NOPREEMPT BIT(1)
+#define I915_REQUEST_WAITBOOST	BIT(0)
+#define I915_REQUEST_NOPREEMPT	BIT(1)
+#define I915_REQUEST_SENTINEL	BIT(2)
 
 	/** timeline->request entry for this request */
 	struct list_head link;
@@ -440,6 +441,11 @@ static inline bool i915_request_has_nopreempt(const struct i915_request *rq)
 	return unlikely(rq->flags & I915_REQUEST_NOPREEMPT);
 }
 
+static inline bool i915_request_has_sentinel(const struct i915_request *rq)
+{
+	return unlikely(rq->flags & I915_REQUEST_SENTINEL);
+}
+
 static inline struct intel_timeline *
 i915_request_timeline(struct i915_request *rq)
 {