diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_ctrl.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_ctrl.c
index 02dedc9f7..83282b879 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_ctrl.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_ctrl.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include <nvgpu/linux/vidmem.h>
 
 #include "ioctl_ctrl.h"
+#include "ioctl_dbg.h"
 #ifdef CONFIG_TEGRA_19x_GPU
 #include "common/linux/ioctl_ctrl_t19x.h"
 #endif
@@ -207,6 +208,7 @@ gk20a_ctrl_ioctl_gpu_characteristics(
 	pgpu->arch = g->params.gpu_arch;
 	pgpu->impl = g->params.gpu_impl;
 	pgpu->rev = g->params.gpu_rev;
+	pgpu->reg_ops_limit = NVGPU_IOCTL_DBG_REG_OPS_LIMIT;
 
 	pgpu->vbios_version = g->bios.vbios_version;
 	pgpu->vbios_oem_version = g->bios.vbios_oem_version;
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.c
index c8d7468e7..304fd71fa 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.c
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ static int nvgpu_ioctl_channel_reg_ops(struct dbg_session_gk20a *dbg_s,
 
 	gk20a_dbg_fn("%d ops, max fragment %d", args->num_ops, g->dbg_regops_tmp_buf_ops);
 
-	if (args->num_ops > g->gpu_characteristics.reg_ops_limit) {
+	if (args->num_ops > NVGPU_IOCTL_DBG_REG_OPS_LIMIT) {
 		nvgpu_err(g, "regops limit exceeded");
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.h b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.h
index 810555a81..bd76045ba 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/common/linux/ioctl_dbg.h
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@
 
 #include "gk20a/dbg_gpu_gk20a.h"
 
+/* NVGPU_DBG_GPU_IOCTL_REG_OPS: the upper limit for the number
+ * of regops */
+#define NVGPU_IOCTL_DBG_REG_OPS_LIMIT 1024
+
 struct dbg_session_gk20a_linux {
 	struct device	*dev;
 	struct dbg_session_gk20a dbg_s;
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/gk20a.c b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/gk20a.c
index a9ee65d09..2d7266ce6 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/gk20a.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/nvgpu/gk20a/gk20a.c
@@ -488,8 +488,6 @@ int gk20a_init_gpu_characteristics(struct gk20a *g)
 	gpu->pci_class = g->pci_class;
 	gpu->pci_revision = g->pci_revision;
 
-	gpu->reg_ops_limit = 1024;
-
 	return 0;
 }