diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/uc/intel_guc_submission.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/uc/intel_guc_submission.c
index 8aaadbb702df..00e2cf92d99c 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/uc/intel_guc_submission.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/gt/uc/intel_guc_submission.c
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ static int guc_submission_send_busy_loop(struct intel_guc *guc,
 		atomic_inc(&guc->outstanding_submission_g2h);
 
 	ret = intel_guc_send_busy_loop(guc, action, len, g2h_len_dw, loop);
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret && g2h_len_dw)
 		atomic_dec(&guc->outstanding_submission_g2h);
 
 	return ret;