diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_gk20a.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_gk20a.c
index 643adca50..c12f196d0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_gk20a.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/channel_gk20a.c
@@ -2155,7 +2155,7 @@ static int gk20a_ioctl_channel_submit_gpfifo(
 	 * synchronization; we might still wait and do an increment */
 	size = args->num_entries * sizeof(struct nvgpu_gpfifo);
 	if (size) {
-		gpfifo = vmalloc(size);
+		gpfifo = nvgpu_alloc(size, false);
 		if (!gpfifo)
 			return -ENOMEM;
 
@@ -2190,7 +2190,7 @@ static int gk20a_ioctl_channel_submit_gpfifo(
 	gk20a_fence_put(fence_out);
 
 clean_up:
-	vfree(gpfifo);
+	nvgpu_free(gpfifo);
 	return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.c
index a38db7090..342d3ace0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.c
@@ -745,8 +745,8 @@ int gk20a_vm_get_buffers(struct vm_gk20a *vm,
 
 	mutex_lock(&vm->update_gmmu_lock);
 
-	buffer_list = kzalloc(sizeof(*buffer_list) *
-			      vm->num_user_mapped_buffers, GFP_KERNEL);
+	buffer_list = nvgpu_alloc(sizeof(*buffer_list) *
+			      vm->num_user_mapped_buffers, true);
 	if (!buffer_list) {
 		mutex_unlock(&vm->update_gmmu_lock);
 		return -ENOMEM;
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ void gk20a_vm_put_buffers(struct vm_gk20a *vm,
 
 	mutex_unlock(&vm->update_gmmu_lock);
 
-	kfree(mapped_buffers);
+	nvgpu_free(mapped_buffers);
 }
 
 static void gk20a_vm_unmap_user(struct vm_gk20a *vm, u64 offset)
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.h b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.h
index 82003cd0b..7a627354e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/mm_gk20a.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include <linux/dma-attrs.h>
 #include <linux/iommu.h>
 #include <linux/tegra-soc.h>
+#include <linux/vmalloc.h>
 #include <asm/dma-iommu.h>
 #include <asm/cacheflush.h>
 #include "gk20a_allocator.h"
@@ -628,4 +629,31 @@ void gk20a_mm_init_pdb(struct gk20a *g, void *inst_ptr, u64 pdb_addr);
 extern const struct gk20a_mmu_level gk20a_mm_levels_64k[];
 extern const struct gk20a_mmu_level gk20a_mm_levels_128k[];
 
+static inline void *nvgpu_alloc(size_t size, bool clear)
+{
+	void *p;
+
+	if (size > PAGE_SIZE) {
+		if (clear)
+			p = vzalloc(size);
+		else
+			p = vmalloc(size);
+	} else {
+		if (clear)
+			p = kzalloc(size, GFP_KERNEL);
+		else
+			p = kmalloc(size, GFP_KERNEL);
+	}
+
+	return p;
+}
+
+static inline void nvgpu_free(void *p)
+{
+	if (virt_addr_valid(p))
+		kfree(p);
+	else
+		vfree(p);
+}
+
 #endif /* MM_GK20A_H */