diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_cmd_parser.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_cmd_parser.c
index 86b3ae0934a7..ef38915075a1 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_cmd_parser.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_cmd_parser.c
@@ -138,6 +138,11 @@ static const struct drm_i915_cmd_descriptor common_cmds[] = {
 			.mask = MI_GLOBAL_GTT,
 			.expected = 0,
 	      }},						       ),
+	/*
+	 * MI_BATCH_BUFFER_START requires some special handling. It's not
+	 * really a 'skip' action but it doesn't seem like it's worth adding
+	 * a new action. See i915_parse_cmds().
+	 */
 	CMD(  MI_BATCH_BUFFER_START,            SMI,   !F,  0xFF,   S  ),
 };
 
@@ -955,7 +960,8 @@ static bool check_cmd(const struct intel_engine_cs *ring,
  * Parses the specified batch buffer looking for privilege violations as
  * described in the overview.
  *
- * Return: non-zero if the parser finds violations or otherwise fails
+ * Return: non-zero if the parser finds violations or otherwise fails; -EACCES
+ * if the batch appears legal but should use hardware parsing
  */
 int i915_parse_cmds(struct intel_engine_cs *ring,
 		    struct drm_i915_gem_object *batch_obj,
@@ -1002,6 +1008,16 @@ int i915_parse_cmds(struct intel_engine_cs *ring,
 			break;
 		}
 
+		/*
+		 * If the batch buffer contains a chained batch, return an
+		 * error that tells the caller to abort and dispatch the
+		 * workload as a non-secure batch.
+		 */
+		if (desc->cmd.value == MI_BATCH_BUFFER_START) {
+			ret = -EACCES;
+			break;
+		}
+
 		if (desc->flags & CMD_DESC_FIXED)
 			length = desc->length.fixed;
 		else
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c
index c70b329b07cd..4b7f5c104ce0 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_gem_execbuffer.c
@@ -1365,17 +1365,19 @@ i915_gem_do_execbuffer(struct drm_device *dev, void *data,
 				      batch_obj,
 				      args->batch_start_offset,
 				      file->is_master);
-		if (ret)
-			goto err;
-
-		/*
-		 * XXX: Actually do this when enabling batch copy...
-		 *
-		 * Set the DISPATCH_SECURE bit to remove the NON_SECURE bit
-		 * from MI_BATCH_BUFFER_START commands issued in the
-		 * dispatch_execbuffer implementations. We specifically don't
-		 * want that set when the command parser is enabled.
-		 */
+		if (ret) {
+			if (ret != -EACCES)
+				goto err;
+		} else {
+			/*
+			 * XXX: Actually do this when enabling batch copy...
+			 *
+			 * Set the DISPATCH_SECURE bit to remove the NON_SECURE bit
+			 * from MI_BATCH_BUFFER_START commands issued in the
+			 * dispatch_execbuffer implementations. We specifically don't
+			 * want that set when the command parser is enabled.
+			 */
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* snb/ivb/vlv conflate the "batch in ppgtt" bit with the "non-secure