diff --git a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_defs.h b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_defs.h
index 7123a2efbf58..8ef174cd4d37 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_defs.h
+++ b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_defs.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ enum driver_configuration {
 	MVS_ATA_CMD_SZ		= 96,	/* SATA command table buffer size */
 	MVS_OAF_SZ		= 64,	/* Open address frame buffer size */
 	MVS_QUEUE_SIZE		= 64,	/* Support Queue depth */
+	MVS_RSVD_SLOTS		= 4,
 	MVS_SOC_CAN_QUEUE	= MVS_SOC_SLOTS - 2,
 };
 
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_init.c b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_init.c
index c85fb812ad43..cfe84473a515 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_init.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_init.c
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ static void mvs_free(struct mvs_info *mvi)
 		scsi_host_put(mvi->shost);
 	list_for_each_entry(mwq, &mvi->wq_list, entry)
 		cancel_delayed_work(&mwq->work_q);
-	kfree(mvi->tags);
+	kfree(mvi->rsvd_tags);
 	kfree(mvi);
 }
 
@@ -284,7 +284,6 @@ static int mvs_alloc(struct mvs_info *mvi, struct Scsi_Host *shost)
 			printk(KERN_DEBUG "failed to create dma pool %s.\n", pool_name);
 			goto err_out;
 	}
-	mvi->tags_num = slot_nr;
 
 	return 0;
 err_out:
@@ -367,8 +366,8 @@ static struct mvs_info *mvs_pci_alloc(struct pci_dev *pdev,
 	mvi->sas = sha;
 	mvi->shost = shost;
 
-	mvi->tags = kzalloc(MVS_CHIP_SLOT_SZ>>3, GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!mvi->tags)
+	mvi->rsvd_tags = bitmap_zalloc(MVS_RSVD_SLOTS, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!mvi->rsvd_tags)
 		goto err_out;
 
 	if (MVS_CHIP_DISP->chip_ioremap(mvi))
@@ -469,6 +468,8 @@ static void  mvs_post_sas_ha_init(struct Scsi_Host *shost,
 	else
 		can_queue = MVS_CHIP_SLOT_SZ;
 
+	can_queue -= MVS_RSVD_SLOTS;
+
 	shost->sg_tablesize = min_t(u16, SG_ALL, MVS_MAX_SG);
 	shost->can_queue = can_queue;
 	mvi->shost->cmd_per_lun = MVS_QUEUE_SIZE;
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.c b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.c
index 3aed5e3e0c8c..9978c424214c 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.c
@@ -20,31 +20,34 @@ static int mvs_find_tag(struct mvs_info *mvi, struct sas_task *task, u32 *tag)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void mvs_tag_clear(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 tag)
+static void mvs_tag_clear(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 tag)
 {
-	void *bitmap = mvi->tags;
+	void *bitmap = mvi->rsvd_tags;
 	clear_bit(tag, bitmap);
 }
 
-void mvs_tag_free(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 tag)
+static void mvs_tag_free(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 tag)
 {
+	if (tag >= MVS_RSVD_SLOTS)
+		return;
+
 	mvs_tag_clear(mvi, tag);
 }
 
-void mvs_tag_set(struct mvs_info *mvi, unsigned int tag)
+static void mvs_tag_set(struct mvs_info *mvi, unsigned int tag)
 {
-	void *bitmap = mvi->tags;
+	void *bitmap = mvi->rsvd_tags;
 	set_bit(tag, bitmap);
 }
 
-inline int mvs_tag_alloc(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 *tag_out)
+static int mvs_tag_alloc(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 *tag_out)
 {
 	unsigned int index, tag;
-	void *bitmap = mvi->tags;
+	void *bitmap = mvi->rsvd_tags;
 
-	index = find_first_zero_bit(bitmap, mvi->tags_num);
+	index = find_first_zero_bit(bitmap, MVS_RSVD_SLOTS);
 	tag = index;
-	if (tag >= mvi->tags_num)
+	if (tag >= MVS_RSVD_SLOTS)
 		return -SAS_QUEUE_FULL;
 	mvs_tag_set(mvi, tag);
 	*tag_out = tag;
@@ -696,6 +699,7 @@ static int mvs_task_prep(struct sas_task *task, struct mvs_info *mvi, int is_tmf
 	struct mvs_task_exec_info tei;
 	struct mvs_slot_info *slot;
 	u32 tag = 0xdeadbeef, n_elem = 0;
+	struct request *rq;
 	int rc = 0;
 
 	if (!dev->port) {
@@ -760,9 +764,14 @@ static int mvs_task_prep(struct sas_task *task, struct mvs_info *mvi, int is_tmf
 		n_elem = task->num_scatter;
 	}
 
-	rc = mvs_tag_alloc(mvi, &tag);
-	if (rc)
-		goto err_out;
+	rq = sas_task_find_rq(task);
+	if (rq) {
+		tag = rq->tag + MVS_RSVD_SLOTS;
+	} else {
+		rc = mvs_tag_alloc(mvi, &tag);
+		if (rc)
+			goto err_out;
+	}
 
 	slot = &mvi->slot_info[tag];
 
@@ -857,7 +866,7 @@ int mvs_queue_command(struct sas_task *task, gfp_t gfp_flags)
 static void mvs_slot_free(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 rx_desc)
 {
 	u32 slot_idx = rx_desc & RXQ_SLOT_MASK;
-	mvs_tag_clear(mvi, slot_idx);
+	mvs_tag_free(mvi, slot_idx);
 }
 
 static void mvs_slot_task_free(struct mvs_info *mvi, struct sas_task *task,
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.h b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.h
index fe57665bdb50..68df771e2975 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.h
+++ b/drivers/scsi/mvsas/mv_sas.h
@@ -370,8 +370,7 @@ struct mvs_info {
 	u32 chip_id;
 	const struct mvs_chip_info *chip;
 
-	int tags_num;
-	unsigned long *tags;
+	unsigned long *rsvd_tags;
 	/* further per-slot information */
 	struct mvs_phy phy[MVS_MAX_PHYS];
 	struct mvs_port port[MVS_MAX_PHYS];
@@ -424,10 +423,6 @@ struct mvs_task_exec_info {
 
 /******************** function prototype *********************/
 void mvs_get_sas_addr(void *buf, u32 buflen);
-void mvs_tag_clear(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 tag);
-void mvs_tag_free(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 tag);
-void mvs_tag_set(struct mvs_info *mvi, unsigned int tag);
-int mvs_tag_alloc(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 *tag_out);
 void mvs_iounmap(void __iomem *regs);
 int mvs_ioremap(struct mvs_info *mvi, int bar, int bar_ex);
 void mvs_phys_reset(struct mvs_info *mvi, u32 phy_mask, int hard);