diff --git a/src/sna/kgem.c b/src/sna/kgem.c
index 324df6da..16f60bb4 100644
--- a/src/sna/kgem.c
+++ b/src/sna/kgem.c
@@ -4793,7 +4793,7 @@ void kgem_bo_sync__cpu_full(struct kgem *kgem, struct kgem_bo *bo, bool write)
 		set_domain.write_domain = write ? I915_GEM_DOMAIN_CPU : 0;
 
 		if (drmIoctl(kgem->fd, DRM_IOCTL_I915_GEM_SET_DOMAIN, &set_domain) == 0) {
-			if (write || bo->needs_flush)
+			if (bo->exec == NULL)
 				kgem_bo_retire(kgem, bo);
 			bo->domain = write ? DOMAIN_CPU : DOMAIN_NONE;
 		}