diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_bo.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_bo.c
index c266fa6bade1..b1fdc802d27b 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_bo.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_bo.c
@@ -341,6 +341,18 @@ static void xe_evict_flags(struct ttm_buffer_object *tbo,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (xe_bo_madv_is_dontneed(bo)) {
+		/*
+		 * We can't use purge_placement here, since we need to trigger
+		 * our own purge procedure at the start of xe_bo_move(), which
+		 * would otherwise be skipped. At the same time we don't want
+		 * ttm to then populate the tt with dst pages, before the move
+		 * callback, hence use sys_placement here.
+		 */
+		*placement = sys_placement;
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * For xe, sg bos that are evicted to system just triggers a
 	 * rebind of the sg list upon subsequent validation to XE_PL_TT.