diff --git a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_sampler_view.c b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_sampler_view.c
index 8a41eafd2fd..e4add1bd2c6 100644
--- a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_sampler_view.c
+++ b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_sampler_view.c
@@ -41,15 +41,35 @@
 #include "st_cb_bufferobjects.h"
 #include "st_cb_texture.h"
 
+/* Subtract remaining private references. Typically used before
+ * destruction. See the header file for explanation.
+ */
+static void
+st_remove_private_references(struct st_sampler_view *sv)
+{
+   if (sv->private_refcount) {
+      assert(sv->private_refcount > 0);
+      p_atomic_add(&sv->view->reference.count, -sv->private_refcount);
+      sv->private_refcount = 0;
+   }
+}
+
 /* Return a sampler view while incrementing the refcount by 1. */
 static struct pipe_sampler_view *
 get_sampler_view_reference(struct st_sampler_view *sv,
                            struct pipe_sampler_view *view)
 {
-   struct pipe_sampler_view *ret = NULL;
+   if (unlikely(sv->private_refcount <= 0)) {
+      assert(sv->private_refcount == 0);
 
-   pipe_sampler_view_reference(&ret, view);
-   return ret;
+      /* This is the number of atomic increments we will skip. */
+      sv->private_refcount = 100000000;
+      p_atomic_add(&view->reference.count, sv->private_refcount);
+   }
+
+   /* Return a reference while decrementing the private refcount. */
+   sv->private_refcount--;
+   return view;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -85,6 +105,7 @@ st_texture_set_sampler_view(struct st_context *st,
       if (sv->view) {
          /* check if the context matches */
          if (sv->view->context == st->pipe) {
+            st_remove_private_references(sv);
             pipe_sampler_view_reference(&sv->view, NULL);
             goto found;
          }
@@ -208,10 +229,11 @@ st_texture_release_context_sampler_view(struct st_context *st,
    simple_mtx_lock(&stObj->validate_mutex);
    struct st_sampler_views *views = stObj->sampler_views;
    for (i = 0; i < views->count; ++i) {
-      struct pipe_sampler_view **sv = &views->views[i].view;
+      struct st_sampler_view *sv = &views->views[i];
 
-      if (*sv && (*sv)->context == st->pipe) {
-         pipe_sampler_view_reference(sv, NULL);
+      if (sv->view && sv->view->context == st->pipe) {
+         st_remove_private_references(sv);
+         pipe_sampler_view_reference(&sv->view, NULL);
          break;
       }
    }
@@ -240,6 +262,8 @@ st_texture_release_all_sampler_views(struct st_context *st,
    for (unsigned i = 0; i < views->count; ++i) {
       struct st_sampler_view *stsv = &views->views[i];
       if (stsv->view) {
+         st_remove_private_references(stsv);
+
          if (stsv->st && stsv->st != st) {
             /* Transfer this reference to the zombie list.  It will
              * likely be freed when the zombie list is freed.
diff --git a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_texture.h b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_texture.h
index 9bf0661c8c1..824ef4b14d0 100644
--- a/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_texture.h
+++ b/src/mesa/state_tracker/st_texture.h
@@ -64,6 +64,24 @@ struct st_sampler_view
    bool glsl130_or_later;
    /** Derived from the sampler's sRGBDecode state during validation */
    bool srgb_skip_decode;
+
+   /* This mechanism allows passing sampler view references to the driver
+    * without using atomics to increase the reference count.
+    *
+    * This private refcount can be decremented without atomics but only one
+    * context (st above) can use this counter (so that it's only used by
+    * 1 thread).
+    *
+    * This number is atomically added to view->reference.count at
+    * initialization. If it's never used, the same number is atomically
+    * subtracted from view->reference.count before destruction. If this
+    * number is decremented, we can pass one reference to the driver without
+    * touching reference.count with atomics. At destruction we only subtract
+    * the number of references we have not returned. This can possibly turn
+    * a million atomic increments into 1 add and 1 subtract atomic op over
+    * the whole lifetime of an app.
+    */
+   int private_refcount;
 };