diff --git a/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.c b/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.c
index e1f87bc5538..0c809abc4d4 100644
--- a/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.c
+++ b/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.c
@@ -241,7 +241,6 @@ GENX(pan_shader_compile)(nir_shader *s,
                                           info->fs.outputs_read;
 
                 info->fs.can_discard = s->info.fs.uses_discard;
-                info->fs.helper_invocations = s->info.fs.needs_quad_helper_invocations;
                 info->fs.early_fragment_tests = s->info.fs.early_fragment_tests;
 
                 /* List of reasons we need to execute frag shaders when things
@@ -266,6 +265,11 @@ GENX(pan_shader_compile)(nir_shader *s,
                         !info->fs.can_discard &&
                         !info->fs.outputs_read;
 
+                /* Requires the same hardware guarantees, so grouped as one bit
+                 * in the hardware.
+                 */
+                info->contains_barrier |= s->info.fs.needs_quad_helper_invocations;
+
                 info->fs.reads_frag_coord =
                         (s->info.inputs_read & (1 << VARYING_SLOT_POS)) ||
                         BITSET_TEST(s->info.system_values_read, SYSTEM_VALUE_FRAG_COORD);
diff --git a/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.h b/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.h
index 9e48ee856d6..2764d2587bf 100644
--- a/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.h
+++ b/src/panfrost/lib/pan_shader.h
@@ -255,8 +255,6 @@ pan_shader_prepare_rsd(const struct pan_shader_info *shader_info,
         rsd->properties.uniform_buffer_count = shader_info->ubo_count;
 
         if (shader_info->stage == MESA_SHADER_FRAGMENT) {
-                rsd->properties.shader_contains_barrier |=
-                        shader_info->fs.helper_invocations;
                 rsd->properties.stencil_from_shader =
                         shader_info->fs.writes_stencil;
                 rsd->properties.depth_source =
diff --git a/src/panfrost/util/pan_ir.h b/src/panfrost/util/pan_ir.h
index 63a458684fa..b22feafd70c 100644
--- a/src/panfrost/util/pan_ir.h
+++ b/src/panfrost/util/pan_ir.h
@@ -256,7 +256,6 @@ struct pan_shader_info {
                         bool reads_frag_coord;
                         bool reads_point_coord;
                         bool reads_face;
-                        bool helper_invocations;
                         bool can_discard;
                         bool writes_depth;
                         bool writes_stencil;
@@ -295,8 +294,13 @@ struct pan_shader_info {
                 } vs;
         };
 
-        bool separable;
+        /* Does the shader contains a barrier? or (for fragment shaders) does it
+         * require helper invocations, which demand the same ordering guarantees
+         * of the hardware? These notions are unified in the hardware, so we
+         * unify them here as well.
+         */
         bool contains_barrier;
+        bool separable;
         bool writes_global;
         uint64_t outputs_written;