diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_dma.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_dma.c
index 9e80d5afd27..d49bd82e24e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_dma.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_dma.c
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ static int i915_getparam(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 		value = dev->pci_device;
 		break;
 	case I915_PARAM_HAS_GEM:
-		value = dev_priv->has_gem;
+		value = 1;
 		break;
 	case I915_PARAM_NUM_FENCES_AVAIL:
 		value = dev_priv->num_fence_regs - dev_priv->fence_reg_start;
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ static int i915_getparam(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 		break;
 	case I915_PARAM_HAS_EXECBUF2:
 		/* depends on GEM */
-		value = dev_priv->has_gem;
+		value = 1;
 		break;
 	case I915_PARAM_HAS_BSD:
 		value = HAS_BSD(dev);
@@ -1869,9 +1869,6 @@ int i915_driver_load(struct drm_device *dev, unsigned long flags)
 		goto out_mtrrfree;
 	}
 
-	/* enable GEM by default */
-	dev_priv->has_gem = 1;
-
 	intel_irq_init(dev);
 
 	/* Try to make sure MCHBAR is enabled before poking at it */
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h
index 2166da1168c..cf2c8966d24 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.h
@@ -339,7 +339,6 @@ typedef struct drm_i915_private {
 
 	const struct intel_device_info *info;
 
-	int has_gem;
 	int relative_constants_mode;
 
 	void __iomem *regs;