diff --git a/drivers/dma/dma-axi-dmac.c b/drivers/dma/dma-axi-dmac.c
index a6d235bc8444..2457a420c13d 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/dma-axi-dmac.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/dma-axi-dmac.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ struct axi_dmac_desc {
 	unsigned int num_submitted;
 	unsigned int num_completed;
 	unsigned int num_sgs;
-	struct axi_dmac_sg sg[];
+	struct axi_dmac_sg sg[] __counted_by(num_sgs);
 };
 
 struct axi_dmac_chan {
@@ -484,12 +484,11 @@ static struct axi_dmac_desc *axi_dmac_alloc_desc(unsigned int num_sgs)
 	desc = kzalloc(struct_size(desc, sg, num_sgs), GFP_NOWAIT);
 	if (!desc)
 		return NULL;
+	desc->num_sgs = num_sgs;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < num_sgs; i++)
 		desc->sg[i].id = AXI_DMAC_SG_UNUSED;
 
-	desc->num_sgs = num_sgs;
-
 	return desc;
 }