diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_irq.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_irq.c
index cc9081249836..c30a12ef6daf 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_irq.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_irq.c
@@ -2805,9 +2805,8 @@ static void gen8_disable_vblank(struct drm_device *dev, unsigned int pipe)
 static bool
 ring_idle(struct intel_engine_cs *engine, u32 seqno)
 {
-	return (list_empty(&engine->request_list) ||
-		i915_seqno_passed(seqno,
-				  READ_ONCE(engine->last_submitted_seqno)));
+	return i915_seqno_passed(seqno,
+				 READ_ONCE(engine->last_submitted_seqno));
 }
 
 static bool