diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_dma_buf.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_dma_buf.c
index f7b47e9d1a4c..8a920e58245c 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_dma_buf.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_dma_buf.c
@@ -278,16 +278,8 @@ struct dma_buf *xe_gem_prime_export(struct drm_gem_object *obj, int flags)
 	return ERR_PTR(ret);
 }
 
-/*
- * Takes ownership of @storage: on success it is transferred to the returned
- * drm_gem_object; on failure it is freed before returning the error.
- * This matches the contract of xe_bo_init_locked() which frees @storage on
- * its error paths, so callers need not (and must not) free @storage after
- * this call.
- */
 static struct drm_gem_object *
-xe_dma_buf_init_obj(struct drm_device *dev, struct xe_bo *storage,
-		    struct dma_buf *dma_buf)
+xe_dma_buf_create_obj(struct drm_device *dev, struct dma_buf *dma_buf)
 {
 	struct dma_resv *resv = dma_buf->resv;
 	struct xe_device *xe = to_xe_device(dev);
@@ -298,10 +290,8 @@ xe_dma_buf_init_obj(struct drm_device *dev, struct xe_bo *storage,
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	dummy_obj = drm_gpuvm_resv_object_alloc(&xe->drm);
-	if (!dummy_obj) {
-		xe_bo_free(storage);
+	if (!dummy_obj)
 		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
-	}
 
 	dummy_obj->resv = resv;
 	xe_validation_guard(&ctx, &xe->val, &exec, (struct xe_val_flags) {}, ret) {
@@ -310,8 +300,7 @@ xe_dma_buf_init_obj(struct drm_device *dev, struct xe_bo *storage,
 		if (ret)
 			break;
 
-		/* xe_bo_init_locked() frees storage on error */
-		bo = xe_bo_init_locked(xe, storage, NULL, resv, NULL, dma_buf->size,
+		bo = xe_bo_init_locked(xe, NULL, NULL, resv, NULL, dma_buf->size,
 				       0, /* Will require 1way or 2way for vm_bind */
 				       ttm_bo_type_sg, XE_BO_FLAG_SYSTEM, &exec);
 		drm_exec_retry_on_contention(&exec);
@@ -362,7 +351,6 @@ struct drm_gem_object *xe_gem_prime_import(struct drm_device *dev,
 	const struct dma_buf_attach_ops *attach_ops;
 	struct dma_buf_attachment *attach;
 	struct drm_gem_object *obj;
-	struct xe_bo *bo;
 
 	if (dma_buf->ops == &xe_dmabuf_ops) {
 		obj = dma_buf->priv;
@@ -377,22 +365,14 @@ struct drm_gem_object *xe_gem_prime_import(struct drm_device *dev,
 		}
 	}
 
-	bo = xe_bo_alloc();
-	if (IS_ERR(bo))
-		return ERR_CAST(bo);
-
 	/*
-	 * xe_dma_buf_init_obj() takes ownership of the raw bo, so do not touch
-	 * on fail, since it will already take care of cleanup. On success we
-	 * still need to drop the ref, if something later fails.
-	 *
-	 * In addition this needs to happen before the attach, since
-	 * it will create a new attachment for this, and add it to the list of
-	 * attachments, at which point it is globally visible, and at any point
-	 * the export side can call into on invalidate_mappings callback, which
-	 * require a working object.
+	 * This needs to happen before the attach, since it will create a new
+	 * attachment for this, and add it to the list of attachments, at which
+	 * point it is globally visible, and at any point the export side can
+	 * call into on invalidate_mappings callback, which require a working
+	 * object.
 	 */
-	obj = xe_dma_buf_init_obj(dev, bo, dma_buf);
+	obj = xe_dma_buf_create_obj(dev, dma_buf);
 	if (IS_ERR(obj))
 		return obj;
 
@@ -402,20 +382,15 @@ struct drm_gem_object *xe_gem_prime_import(struct drm_device *dev,
 		attach_ops = test->attach_ops;
 #endif
 
-	attach = dma_buf_dynamic_attach(dma_buf, dev->dev, attach_ops, &bo->ttm.base);
+	attach = dma_buf_dynamic_attach(dma_buf, dev->dev, attach_ops, obj);
 	if (IS_ERR(attach)) {
-		obj = ERR_CAST(attach);
-		goto out_err;
+		xe_bo_put(gem_to_xe_bo(obj));
+		return ERR_CAST(attach);
 	}
 
 	get_dma_buf(dma_buf);
 	obj->import_attach = attach;
 	return obj;
-
-out_err:
-	xe_bo_put(bo);
-
-	return obj;
 }
 
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_DRM_XE_KUNIT_TEST)