diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.c b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.c
index 3dcf3fee25c..676149ee12a 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.c
@@ -54,8 +54,12 @@ zink_reset_batch(struct zink_context *ctx, struct zink_batch *batch)
       struct zink_program *pg = (struct zink_program*)entry->key;
       struct set *desc_sets = (struct set*)entry->data;
       set_foreach(desc_sets, sentry) {
-         VkDescriptorSet desc_set = (VkDescriptorSet)sentry->key;
-         vkFreeDescriptorSets(screen->dev, pg->descpool, 1, &desc_set);
+         struct zink_descriptor_set *zds = (void*)sentry->key;
+         /* reset descriptor pools when no batch is using this program to avoid
+          * having some inactive program hogging a billion descriptors
+          */
+         pipe_reference(&zds->reference, NULL);
+         zink_program_invalidate_desc_set(pg, zds);
       }
       _mesa_set_destroy(desc_sets, NULL);
       if (batch->batch_id == ZINK_COMPUTE_BATCH_ID) {
@@ -231,13 +235,14 @@ zink_batch_reference_program(struct zink_batch *batch,
 }
 
 bool
-zink_batch_add_desc_set(struct zink_batch *batch, struct zink_program *pg, VkDescriptorSet desc_set)
+zink_batch_add_desc_set(struct zink_batch *batch, struct zink_program *pg, struct zink_descriptor_set *zds)
 {
    struct hash_entry *entry = _mesa_hash_table_search(batch->programs, pg);
    assert(entry);
    struct set *desc_sets = (void*)entry->data;
-   if (!_mesa_set_search(desc_sets, desc_set)) {
-      _mesa_set_add(desc_sets, desc_set);
+   if (!_mesa_set_search(desc_sets, zds)) {
+      pipe_reference(NULL, &zds->reference);
+      _mesa_set_add(desc_sets, zds);
       return true;
    }
    return false;
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.h b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.h
index b205e23bd92..27e126b63e2 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.h
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_batch.h
@@ -100,5 +100,5 @@ zink_batch_reference_surface(struct zink_batch *batch,
                              struct zink_surface *surface);
 
 bool
-zink_batch_add_desc_set(struct zink_batch *batch, struct zink_program *pg, VkDescriptorSet desc_set);
+zink_batch_add_desc_set(struct zink_batch *batch, struct zink_program *pg, struct zink_descriptor_set *zds);
 #endif
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_draw.c b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_draw.c
index 37f6885ae60..f4198916b31 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_draw.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_draw.c
@@ -17,11 +17,19 @@
 #include "util/u_prim_restart.h"
 
 
-static VkDescriptorSet
+static struct zink_descriptor_set *
 allocate_descriptor_set(struct zink_screen *screen,
                         struct zink_batch *batch,
                         struct zink_program *pg)
 {
+   struct zink_descriptor_set *zds;
+
+   if (util_dynarray_num_elements(&pg->alloc_desc_sets, struct zink_descriptor_set *)) {
+      /* grab one off the allocated array */
+      zds = util_dynarray_pop(&pg->alloc_desc_sets, struct zink_descriptor_set *);
+      goto out;
+   }
+
    VkDescriptorSetAllocateInfo dsai;
    memset((void *)&dsai, 0, sizeof(dsai));
    dsai.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR_SET_ALLOCATE_INFO;
@@ -35,10 +43,15 @@ allocate_descriptor_set(struct zink_screen *screen,
       debug_printf("ZINK: %p failed to allocate descriptor set :/\n", pg);
       return VK_NULL_HANDLE;
    }
-   if (zink_batch_add_desc_set(batch, pg, desc_set))
+   zds = ralloc_size(NULL, sizeof(struct zink_descriptor_set));
+   assert(zds);
+   pipe_reference_init(&zds->reference, 1);
+   zds->desc_set = desc_set;
+out:
+   if (zink_batch_add_desc_set(batch, pg, zds))
       batch->descs_used += pg->num_descriptors;
 
-   return desc_set;
+   return zds;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -530,9 +543,9 @@ update_descriptors(struct zink_context *ctx, struct zink_screen *screen, bool is
    struct zink_program *pg = is_compute ? &ctx->curr_compute->base : &ctx->curr_program->base;
    zink_batch_reference_program(batch, pg);
    assert(pg->num_descriptors == num_descriptors);
-   VkDescriptorSet desc_set = allocate_descriptor_set(screen, batch, pg);
+   struct zink_descriptor_set *zds = allocate_descriptor_set(screen, batch, pg);
    /* probably oom, so we need to stall until we free up some descriptors */
-   if (!desc_set) {
+   if (!zds) {
       /* update our max descriptor count so we can try and avoid this happening again */
       unsigned short max_descs = 0;
       for (int i = 0; i < ZINK_COMPUTE_BATCH_ID; i++)
@@ -554,15 +567,15 @@ update_descriptors(struct zink_context *ctx, struct zink_screen *screen, bool is
          }
       }
       zink_batch_reference_program(batch, pg);
-      desc_set = allocate_descriptor_set(screen, batch, pg);
+      zds = allocate_descriptor_set(screen, batch, pg);
    }
-   assert(desc_set != VK_NULL_HANDLE);
+   assert(zds != VK_NULL_HANDLE);
 
    unsigned check_flush_id = is_compute ? 0 : ZINK_COMPUTE_BATCH_ID;
    bool need_flush = false;
    if (num_wds > 0) {
       for (int i = 0; i < num_wds; ++i) {
-         wds[i].dstSet = desc_set;
+         wds[i].dstSet = zds->desc_set;
          struct zink_resource *res = resources[i].res;
          if (res) {
             need_flush |= zink_batch_reference_resource_rw(batch, res, resources[i].write) == check_flush_id;
@@ -577,10 +590,10 @@ update_descriptors(struct zink_context *ctx, struct zink_screen *screen, bool is
 
    if (is_compute)
       vkCmdBindDescriptorSets(batch->cmdbuf, VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_COMPUTE,
-                              ctx->curr_compute->layout, 0, 1, &desc_set, 0, NULL);
+                              ctx->curr_compute->layout, 0, 1, &zds->desc_set, 0, NULL);
    else
       vkCmdBindDescriptorSets(batch->cmdbuf, VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_GRAPHICS,
-                              ctx->curr_program->layout, 0, 1, &desc_set, 0, NULL);
+                              ctx->curr_program->layout, 0, 1, &zds->desc_set, 0, NULL);
 
    for (int i = 0; i < num_stages; i++) {
       struct zink_shader *shader = stages[i];
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.c b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.c
index b9c88803ad8..7a0999916f0 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.c
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.c
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ create_desc_set_layout(VkDevice dev,
    dpci.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR_POOL_CREATE_INFO;
    dpci.pPoolSizes = sizes;
    dpci.poolSizeCount = ARRAY_SIZE(sizes);
-   dpci.flags = VK_DESCRIPTOR_POOL_CREATE_FREE_DESCRIPTOR_SET_BIT;
+   dpci.flags = 0;
    dpci.maxSets = ZINK_BATCH_DESC_SIZE;
    if (vkCreateDescriptorPool(dev, &dpci, 0, descpool) != VK_SUCCESS) {
       vkDestroyDescriptorSetLayout(dev, dsl, NULL);
@@ -670,6 +670,15 @@ fail:
    return NULL;
 }
 
+void
+zink_program_invalidate_desc_set(struct zink_program *pg, struct zink_descriptor_set *zds)
+{
+   uint32_t refcount = p_atomic_read(&zds->reference.count);
+   /* refcount > 1 means this is currently in use, so we can't recycle it yet */
+   if (refcount == 1)
+      util_dynarray_append(&pg->alloc_desc_sets, struct zink_descriptor_set *, zds);
+}
+
 static void
 gfx_program_remove_shader(struct zink_gfx_program *prog, struct zink_shader *shader)
 {
diff --git a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.h b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.h
index 46802be4799..0ca0fda7135 100644
--- a/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.h
+++ b/src/gallium/drivers/zink/zink_program.h
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ struct zink_shader_cache {
    struct hash_table *shader_cache;
 };
 
+struct zink_descriptor_set {
+   struct pipe_reference reference; //incremented for batch usage
+   VkDescriptorSet desc_set;
+};
+
 struct zink_program {
    struct pipe_reference reference;
 
@@ -161,4 +166,7 @@ zink_get_compute_pipeline(struct zink_screen *screen,
                       struct zink_compute_program *comp,
                       struct zink_compute_pipeline_state *state);
 
+void
+zink_program_invalidate_desc_set(struct zink_program *pg, struct zink_descriptor_set *zds);
+
 #endif