diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_engine.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_engine.c
index 1843e886a405..e72a94a944d0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_engine.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/xe/xe_engine.c
@@ -599,7 +599,9 @@ int xe_engine_create_ioctl(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 			return -ENOENT;
 
 		e = xe_engine_create(xe, vm, logical_mask,
-				     args->width, hwe, ENGINE_FLAG_PERSISTENT);
+				     args->width, hwe,
+				     xe_vm_no_dma_fences(vm) ? 0 :
+				     ENGINE_FLAG_PERSISTENT);
 		xe_vm_put(vm);
 		if (IS_ERR(e))
 			return PTR_ERR(e);