diff --git a/src/nouveau/mme/mme_builder.h b/src/nouveau/mme/mme_builder.h
index d0379602249..639654201ce 100644
--- a/src/nouveau/mme/mme_builder.h
+++ b/src/nouveau/mme/mme_builder.h
@@ -178,7 +178,15 @@ mme_imm64(uint64_t imm)
 static inline uint8_t
 __mme_alloc_reg(struct mme_builder *b)
 {
-   return b->reg_alloc++;
+   uint8_t reg = ffs(~b->reg_alloc) - 1;
+   b->reg_alloc |= (1u << reg);
+   return reg;
+}
+
+static inline void
+__mme_free_reg(struct mme_builder *b, uint8_t reg)
+{
+   b->reg_alloc &= ~(1u << reg);
 }
 
 static inline struct mme_value
@@ -191,6 +199,13 @@ mme_alloc_reg(struct mme_builder *b)
    return val;
 }
 
+static inline void
+mme_free_reg(struct mme_builder *b, struct mme_value val)
+{
+   assert(val.type == MME_VALUE_TYPE_REG);
+   __mme_free_reg(b, val.reg);
+}
+
 static inline struct mme_value
 mme_tu104_alu(struct mme_builder *b,
               enum mme_tu104_alu_op op,