diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/vc4/vc4_crtc.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/vc4/vc4_crtc.c
index bf4667481935..c61dff594195 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/vc4/vc4_crtc.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/vc4/vc4_crtc.c
@@ -760,6 +760,7 @@ static irqreturn_t vc4_crtc_irq_handler(int irq, void *data)
 struct vc4_async_flip_state {
 	struct drm_crtc *crtc;
 	struct drm_framebuffer *fb;
+	struct drm_framebuffer *old_fb;
 	struct drm_pending_vblank_event *event;
 
 	struct vc4_seqno_cb cb;
@@ -789,6 +790,23 @@ vc4_async_page_flip_complete(struct vc4_seqno_cb *cb)
 
 	drm_crtc_vblank_put(crtc);
 	drm_framebuffer_put(flip_state->fb);
+
+	/* Decrement the BO usecnt in order to keep the inc/dec calls balanced
+	 * when the planes are updated through the async update path.
+	 * FIXME: we should move to generic async-page-flip when it's
+	 * available, so that we can get rid of this hand-made cleanup_fb()
+	 * logic.
+	 */
+	if (flip_state->old_fb) {
+		struct drm_gem_cma_object *cma_bo;
+		struct vc4_bo *bo;
+
+		cma_bo = drm_fb_cma_get_gem_obj(flip_state->old_fb, 0);
+		bo = to_vc4_bo(&cma_bo->base);
+		vc4_bo_dec_usecnt(bo);
+		drm_framebuffer_put(flip_state->old_fb);
+	}
+
 	kfree(flip_state);
 
 	up(&vc4->async_modeset);
@@ -813,9 +831,22 @@ static int vc4_async_page_flip(struct drm_crtc *crtc,
 	struct drm_gem_cma_object *cma_bo = drm_fb_cma_get_gem_obj(fb, 0);
 	struct vc4_bo *bo = to_vc4_bo(&cma_bo->base);
 
+	/* Increment the BO usecnt here, so that we never end up with an
+	 * unbalanced number of vc4_bo_{dec,inc}_usecnt() calls when the
+	 * plane is later updated through the non-async path.
+	 * FIXME: we should move to generic async-page-flip when it's
+	 * available, so that we can get rid of this hand-made prepare_fb()
+	 * logic.
+	 */
+	ret = vc4_bo_inc_usecnt(bo);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	flip_state = kzalloc(sizeof(*flip_state), GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!flip_state)
+	if (!flip_state) {
+		vc4_bo_dec_usecnt(bo);
 		return -ENOMEM;
+	}
 
 	drm_framebuffer_get(fb);
 	flip_state->fb = fb;
@@ -826,10 +857,23 @@ static int vc4_async_page_flip(struct drm_crtc *crtc,
 	ret = down_interruptible(&vc4->async_modeset);
 	if (ret) {
 		drm_framebuffer_put(fb);
+		vc4_bo_dec_usecnt(bo);
 		kfree(flip_state);
 		return ret;
 	}
 
+	/* Save the current FB before it's replaced by the new one in
+	 * drm_atomic_set_fb_for_plane(). We'll need the old FB in
+	 * vc4_async_page_flip_complete() to decrement the BO usecnt and keep
+	 * it consistent.
+	 * FIXME: we should move to generic async-page-flip when it's
+	 * available, so that we can get rid of this hand-made cleanup_fb()
+	 * logic.
+	 */
+	flip_state->old_fb = plane->state->fb;
+	if (flip_state->old_fb)
+		drm_framebuffer_get(flip_state->old_fb);
+
 	WARN_ON(drm_crtc_vblank_get(crtc) != 0);
 
 	/* Immediately update the plane's legacy fb pointer, so that later