diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.c
index 8f048f9e0..918f29a4d 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.c
@@ -600,7 +600,6 @@ static void gk20a_remove_fifo_support(struct fifo_gk20a *f)
 	}
 
 	gk20a_fifo_delete_runlist(f);
-	nvgpu_mutex_destroy(&f->runlist_submit_mutex);
 
 	nvgpu_kfree(g, f->pbdma_map);
 	f->pbdma_map = NULL;
@@ -920,11 +919,7 @@ int gk20a_init_fifo_setup_sw_common(struct gk20a *g)
 		return err;
 	}
 
-	err = nvgpu_mutex_init(&f->runlist_submit_mutex);
-	if (err) {
-		nvgpu_err(g, "failed to init runlist_submit_mutex");
-		return err;
-	}
+	nvgpu_spinlock_init(&f->runlist_submit_lock);
 
 	g->ops.fifo.init_pbdma_intr_descs(f); /* just filling in data/tables */
 
@@ -3489,6 +3484,8 @@ void gk20a_fifo_runlist_hw_submit(struct gk20a *g, u32 runlist_id,
 	runlist = &g->fifo.runlist_info[runlist_id];
 	runlist_iova = nvgpu_mem_get_addr(g, &runlist->mem[buffer_index]);
 
+	nvgpu_spinlock_acquire(&g->fifo.runlist_submit_lock);
+
 	if (count != 0) {
 		gk20a_writel(g, fifo_runlist_base_r(),
 			fifo_runlist_base_ptr_f(u64_lo32(runlist_iova >> 12)) |
@@ -3501,6 +3498,8 @@ void gk20a_fifo_runlist_hw_submit(struct gk20a *g, u32 runlist_id,
 	gk20a_writel(g, fifo_runlist_r(),
 		fifo_runlist_engine_f(runlist_id) |
 		fifo_eng_runlist_length_f(count));
+
+	nvgpu_spinlock_release(&g->fifo.runlist_submit_lock);
 }
 
 int gk20a_fifo_update_runlist_locked(struct gk20a *g, u32 runlist_id,
@@ -3590,7 +3589,6 @@ int gk20a_fifo_update_runlist_locked(struct gk20a *g, u32 runlist_id,
 		runlist->count = 0;
 	}
 
-	nvgpu_mutex_acquire(&f->runlist_submit_mutex);
 	g->ops.fifo.runlist_hw_submit(g, runlist_id, runlist->count, new_buf);
 
 	if (wait_for_finish) {
@@ -3598,7 +3596,6 @@ int gk20a_fifo_update_runlist_locked(struct gk20a *g, u32 runlist_id,
 
 		if (ret == -ETIMEDOUT) {
 			nvgpu_err(g, "runlist %d update timeout", runlist_id);
-			nvgpu_mutex_release(&f->runlist_submit_mutex);
 			/* trigger runlist update timeout recovery */
 			return ret;
 
@@ -3606,7 +3603,6 @@ int gk20a_fifo_update_runlist_locked(struct gk20a *g, u32 runlist_id,
 			nvgpu_err(g, "runlist update interrupted");
 		}
 	}
-	nvgpu_mutex_release(&f->runlist_submit_mutex);
 
 	runlist->cur_buffer = new_buf;
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.h b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.h
index 60e8998a7..22db5ce6e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/fifo_gk20a.h
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ struct fifo_gk20a {
 	struct nvgpu_list_node free_chs;
 	struct nvgpu_mutex free_chs_mutex;
 	struct nvgpu_mutex gr_reset_mutex;
-	struct nvgpu_mutex runlist_submit_mutex;
+	struct nvgpu_spinlock runlist_submit_lock;
 
 	struct tsg_gk20a *tsg;
 	struct nvgpu_mutex tsg_inuse_mutex;