diff --git a/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_context.c b/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_context.c
index 4e5aed69302..e94df2658ce 100644
--- a/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_context.c
+++ b/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_context.c
@@ -140,6 +140,13 @@ brwCreateContext(int api,
       return false;
    }
 
+   /* brwInitVtbl needs to know the chipset generation so that it can set the
+    * right pointers.
+    */
+   brw->intel.gen = screen->gen;
+
+   brwInitVtbl( brw );
+
    brwInitDriverFunctions(screen, &functions);
 
    struct intel_context *intel = &brw->intel;
@@ -148,13 +155,10 @@ brwCreateContext(int api,
    if (!intelInitContext( intel, api, mesaVis, driContextPriv,
 			  sharedContextPrivate, &functions )) {
       printf("%s: failed to init intel context\n", __FUNCTION__);
-      FREE(brw);
       *error = __DRI_CTX_ERROR_NO_MEMORY;
       return false;
    }
 
-   brwInitVtbl( brw );
-
    brw_init_surface_formats(brw);
 
    /* Initialize swrast, tnl driver tables: */
diff --git a/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_vtbl.c b/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_vtbl.c
index 9951e7da2cc..ca2e7a9a5ba 100644
--- a/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_vtbl.c
+++ b/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_vtbl.c
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ void brwInitVtbl( struct brw_context *brw )
    brw->intel.vtbl.render_target_supported = brw_render_target_supported;
    brw->intel.vtbl.is_hiz_depth_format = brw_is_hiz_depth_format;
 
+   assert(brw->intel.gen >= 4);
    if (brw->intel.gen >= 7) {
       gen7_init_vtable_surface_functions(brw);
    } else if (brw->intel.gen >= 4) {