diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
index 5b205863b659..27ea6bdebce7 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem.c
@@ -2737,24 +2737,11 @@ i915_gem_retire_requests_ring(struct intel_engine_cs *ring)
 
 	WARN_ON(i915_verify_lists(ring->dev));
 
-	/* Move any buffers on the active list that are no longer referenced
-	 * by the ringbuffer to the flushing/inactive lists as appropriate,
-	 * before we free the context associated with the requests.
+	/* Retire requests first as we use it above for the early return.
+	 * If we retire requests last, we may use a later seqno and so clear
+	 * the requests lists without clearing the active list, leading to
+	 * confusion.
 	 */
-	while (!list_empty(&ring->active_list)) {
-		struct drm_i915_gem_object *obj;
-
-		obj = list_first_entry(&ring->active_list,
-				      struct drm_i915_gem_object,
-				      ring_list);
-
-		if (!i915_gem_request_completed(obj->last_read_req, true))
-			break;
-
-		i915_gem_object_move_to_inactive(obj);
-	}
-
-
 	while (!list_empty(&ring->request_list)) {
 		struct drm_i915_gem_request *request;
 		struct intel_ringbuffer *ringbuf;
@@ -2789,6 +2776,23 @@ i915_gem_retire_requests_ring(struct intel_engine_cs *ring)
 		i915_gem_free_request(request);
 	}
 
+	/* Move any buffers on the active list that are no longer referenced
+	 * by the ringbuffer to the flushing/inactive lists as appropriate,
+	 * before we free the context associated with the requests.
+	 */
+	while (!list_empty(&ring->active_list)) {
+		struct drm_i915_gem_object *obj;
+
+		obj = list_first_entry(&ring->active_list,
+				      struct drm_i915_gem_object,
+				      ring_list);
+
+		if (!i915_gem_request_completed(obj->last_read_req, true))
+			break;
+
+		i915_gem_object_move_to_inactive(obj);
+	}
+
 	if (unlikely(ring->trace_irq_req &&
 		     i915_gem_request_completed(ring->trace_irq_req, true))) {
 		ring->irq_put(ring);