diff --git a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_instance.c b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_instance.c
index fbe0bf56b00..3d977c75c94 100644
--- a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_instance.c
+++ b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_instance.c
@@ -130,8 +130,7 @@ vn_instance_init_ring(struct vn_instance *instance)
    mtx_init(&instance->ring.mutex, mtx_plain);
 
    struct vn_ring *ring = &instance->ring.ring;
-   vn_ring_init(ring, instance->renderer, &layout,
-                instance->ring.shmem->mmap_ptr);
+   vn_ring_init(instance, ring, &layout, instance->ring.shmem->mmap_ptr);
 
    instance->ring.id = (uintptr_t)ring;
 
@@ -334,6 +333,7 @@ vn_instance_submission_get_ring_submit(struct vn_ring *ring,
                                        struct vn_renderer_shmem *extra_shmem,
                                        bool direct)
 {
+   struct vn_renderer *renderer = ring->instance->renderer;
    const uint32_t shmem_count =
       (direct ? 0 : cs->buffer_count) + (extra_shmem ? 1 : 0);
    struct vn_ring_submit *submit = vn_ring_get_submit(ring, shmem_count);
@@ -344,12 +344,12 @@ vn_instance_submission_get_ring_submit(struct vn_ring *ring,
    if (!direct) {
       for (uint32_t i = 0; i < cs->buffer_count; i++) {
          submit->shmems[i] =
-            vn_renderer_shmem_ref(ring->renderer, cs->buffers[i].shmem);
+            vn_renderer_shmem_ref(renderer, cs->buffers[i].shmem);
       }
    }
    if (extra_shmem) {
       submit->shmems[shmem_count - 1] =
-         vn_renderer_shmem_ref(ring->renderer, extra_shmem);
+         vn_renderer_shmem_ref(renderer, extra_shmem);
    }
 
    return submit;
diff --git a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.c b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.c
index b4d342f32aa..f12eed23167 100644
--- a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.c
+++ b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "vn_ring.h"
 
 #include "vn_cs.h"
+#include "vn_instance.h"
 #include "vn_renderer.h"
 
 static uint32_t
@@ -76,16 +77,16 @@ vn_ring_ge_seqno(const struct vn_ring *ring, uint32_t a, uint32_t b)
 static void
 vn_ring_retire_submits(struct vn_ring *ring, uint32_t seqno)
 {
+   struct vn_renderer *renderer = ring->instance->renderer;
    list_for_each_entry_safe(struct vn_ring_submit, submit, &ring->submits,
                             head) {
       if (!vn_ring_ge_seqno(ring, seqno, submit->seqno))
          break;
 
       for (uint32_t i = 0; i < submit->shmem_count; i++)
-         vn_renderer_shmem_unref(ring->renderer, submit->shmems[i]);
+         vn_renderer_shmem_unref(renderer, submit->shmems[i]);
 
-      list_del(&submit->head);
-      list_add(&submit->head, &ring->free_submits);
+      list_move_to(&submit->head, &ring->free_submits);
    }
 }
 
@@ -179,15 +180,15 @@ vn_ring_get_layout(size_t buf_size,
 }
 
 void
-vn_ring_init(struct vn_ring *ring,
-             struct vn_renderer *renderer,
+vn_ring_init(struct vn_instance *instance,
+             struct vn_ring *ring,
              const struct vn_ring_layout *layout,
              void *shared)
 {
    memset(ring, 0, sizeof(*ring));
    memset(shared, 0, layout->shmem_size);
 
-   ring->renderer = renderer;
+   ring->instance = instance;
 
    assert(layout->buffer_size &&
           util_is_power_of_two_or_zero(layout->buffer_size));
@@ -207,12 +208,14 @@ vn_ring_init(struct vn_ring *ring,
 void
 vn_ring_fini(struct vn_ring *ring)
 {
+   const VkAllocationCallbacks *alloc = &ring->instance->base.base.alloc;
+
    vn_ring_retire_submits(ring, ring->cur);
    assert(list_is_empty(&ring->submits));
 
    list_for_each_entry_safe(struct vn_ring_submit, submit,
                             &ring->free_submits, head)
-      free(submit);
+      vk_free(alloc, submit);
 
    if (ring->monitor.report_period_us)
       mtx_destroy(&ring->monitor.mutex);
@@ -221,6 +224,7 @@ vn_ring_fini(struct vn_ring *ring)
 struct vn_ring_submit *
 vn_ring_get_submit(struct vn_ring *ring, uint32_t shmem_count)
 {
+   const VkAllocationCallbacks *alloc = &ring->instance->base.base.alloc;
    const uint32_t min_shmem_count = 2;
    struct vn_ring_submit *submit;
 
@@ -231,9 +235,10 @@ vn_ring_get_submit(struct vn_ring *ring, uint32_t shmem_count)
          list_first_entry(&ring->free_submits, struct vn_ring_submit, head);
       list_del(&submit->head);
    } else {
-      shmem_count = MAX2(shmem_count, min_shmem_count);
-      submit =
-         malloc(sizeof(*submit) + sizeof(submit->shmems[0]) * shmem_count);
+      const size_t submit_size = offsetof(
+         struct vn_ring_submit, shmems[MAX2(shmem_count, min_shmem_count)]);
+      submit = vk_alloc(alloc, submit_size, VN_DEFAULT_ALIGN,
+                        VK_SYSTEM_ALLOCATION_SCOPE_INSTANCE);
    }
 
    return submit;
diff --git a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.h b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.h
index 4b97a2f146e..dcef54ec3a1 100644
--- a/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.h
+++ b/src/virtio/vulkan/vn_ring.h
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ struct vn_ring_submit {
 };
 
 struct vn_ring {
-   struct vn_renderer *renderer;
+   struct vn_instance *instance;
 
    uint32_t buffer_size;
    uint32_t buffer_mask;
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ vn_ring_get_layout(size_t buf_size,
                    struct vn_ring_layout *layout);
 
 void
-vn_ring_init(struct vn_ring *ring,
-             struct vn_renderer *renderer,
+vn_ring_init(struct vn_instance *instance,
+             struct vn_ring *ring,
              const struct vn_ring_layout *layout,
              void *shared);