diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/fifo/submit.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/fifo/submit.c
index dd3705398..938f4904a 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/fifo/submit.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/fifo/submit.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <nvgpu/profile.h>
 #include <nvgpu/vpr.h>
 #include <nvgpu/trace.h>
+#include <nvgpu/nvhost.h>
 
 /*
  * Handle the submit synchronization - pre-fences and post-fences.
@@ -441,8 +442,6 @@ static int nvgpu_submit_channel_gpfifo(struct nvgpu_channel *c,
 #endif
 
 	if (need_job_tracking) {
-		bool need_sync_framework = false;
-
 		/*
 		 * If the channel is to have deterministic latency and
 		 * job tracking is required, the channel must have
@@ -453,26 +452,26 @@ static int nvgpu_submit_channel_gpfifo(struct nvgpu_channel *c,
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 
-		need_sync_framework =
-			(nvgpu_channel_sync_needs_os_fence_framework(g) ||
-			 (flag_sync_fence && flag_fence_get));
-
 		/*
 		 * Deferred clean-up is necessary for any of the following
-		 * conditions:
-		 * - channel's deterministic flag is not set
-		 * - dependency on sync framework, which could make the
-		 *   behavior of the clean-up operation non-deterministic
-		 *   (should not be performed in the submit path)
-		 * - channel wdt
-		 * - buffer refcounting
+		 * conditions that could make clean-up behaviour
+		 * non-deterministic and as such not suitable for the submit
+		 * path:
+		 * - channel's deterministic flag is not set (job tracking is
+		 *   dynamically allocated)
+		 * - no syncpt support (struct nvgpu_semaphore is dynamically
+		 *   allocated, not pooled)
+		 * - dependency on sync framework for post fences
+		 * - buffer refcounting, which is O(n)
+		 * - channel wdt, which needs periodic async cleanup
 		 *
 		 * If none of the conditions are met, then deferred clean-up
 		 * is not required, and we clean-up one job-tracking
 		 * resource in the submit path.
 		 */
 		need_deferred_cleanup = !nvgpu_channel_is_deterministic(c) ||
-					need_sync_framework ||
+					!nvgpu_has_syncpoints(g) ||
+					(flag_sync_fence && flag_fence_get) ||
 					!skip_buffer_refcounting;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_NVGPU_CHANNEL_WDT
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/os/linux/ioctl_channel.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/os/linux/ioctl_channel.c
index 315bb45cc..1dd894cb3 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/os/linux/ioctl_channel.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/os/linux/ioctl_channel.c
@@ -795,6 +795,12 @@ static int gk20a_ioctl_channel_submit_gpfifo(
 	int fd = -1;
 	struct gk20a *g = ch->g;
 	struct nvgpu_gpfifo_userdata userdata;
+	bool flag_fence_wait = (args->flags &
+			NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_FENCE_WAIT) != 0U;
+	bool flag_fence_get = (args->flags &
+			NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_FENCE_GET) != 0U;
+	bool flag_sync_fence = (args->flags &
+			NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_SYNC_FENCE) != 0U;
 
 	int ret = 0;
 	nvgpu_log_fn(g, " ");
@@ -806,22 +812,36 @@ static int gk20a_ioctl_channel_submit_gpfifo(
 		return -ETIMEDOUT;
 	}
 
-	nvgpu_get_fence_args(&args->fence, &fence);
-	submit_flags =
-		nvgpu_submit_gpfifo_user_flags_to_common_flags(args->flags);
+#ifndef CONFIG_SYNC
+	if (flag_sync_fence) {
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+#endif
+
+	/*
+	 * In case we need the sync framework, require that the user requests
+	 * it too for any fences. That's advertised in the gpu characteristics.
+	 */
+	if (nvgpu_channel_sync_needs_os_fence_framework(g) &&
+		(flag_fence_wait || flag_fence_get) && !flag_sync_fence) {
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	/* Try and allocate an fd here*/
-	if ((args->flags & NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_FENCE_GET)
-		&& (args->flags & NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_SYNC_FENCE)) {
-			fd = get_unused_fd_flags(O_RDWR);
-			if (fd < 0)
-				return fd;
+	if (flag_fence_get && flag_sync_fence) {
+		fd = get_unused_fd_flags(O_RDWR);
+		if (fd < 0)
+			return fd;
 	}
 
 	userdata.entries = (struct nvgpu_gpfifo_entry __user *)
 		(uintptr_t)args->gpfifo;
 	userdata.context = NULL;
 
+	nvgpu_get_fence_args(&args->fence, &fence);
+	submit_flags =
+		nvgpu_submit_gpfifo_user_flags_to_common_flags(args->flags);
+
 	ret = nvgpu_submit_channel_gpfifo_user(ch,
 			userdata, args->num_entries,
 			submit_flags, &fence, &fence_out, profile);
@@ -833,8 +853,8 @@ static int gk20a_ioctl_channel_submit_gpfifo(
 	}
 
 	/* Convert fence_out to something we can pass back to user space. */
-	if (args->flags & NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_FENCE_GET) {
-		if (args->flags & NVGPU_SUBMIT_GPFIFO_FLAGS_SYNC_FENCE) {
+	if (flag_fence_get) {
+		if (flag_sync_fence) {
 			ret = nvgpu_fence_install_fd(fence_out, fd);
 			if (ret)
 				put_unused_fd(fd);