diff --git a/block/sed-opal.c b/block/sed-opal.c
index 119640897293..9651c40e093a 100644
--- a/block/sed-opal.c
+++ b/block/sed-opal.c
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ struct opal_dev {
 	u64 lowest_lba;
 
 	size_t pos;
-	u8 cmd[IO_BUFFER_LENGTH];
-	u8 resp[IO_BUFFER_LENGTH];
+	u8 *cmd;
+	u8 *resp;
 
 	struct parsed_resp parsed;
 	size_t prev_d_len;
@@ -2028,6 +2028,8 @@ void free_opal_dev(struct opal_dev *dev)
 	if (!dev)
 		return;
 	clean_opal_dev(dev);
+	kfree(dev->resp);
+	kfree(dev->cmd);
 	kfree(dev);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(free_opal_dev);
@@ -2040,16 +2042,38 @@ struct opal_dev *init_opal_dev(void *data, sec_send_recv *send_recv)
 	if (!dev)
 		return NULL;
 
+	/*
+	 * Presumably DMA-able buffers must be cache-aligned. Kmalloc makes
+	 * sure the allocated buffer is DMA-safe in that regard.
+	 */
+	dev->cmd = kmalloc(IO_BUFFER_LENGTH, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!dev->cmd)
+		goto err_free_dev;
+
+	dev->resp = kmalloc(IO_BUFFER_LENGTH, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!dev->resp)
+		goto err_free_cmd;
+
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&dev->unlk_lst);
 	mutex_init(&dev->dev_lock);
 	dev->data = data;
 	dev->send_recv = send_recv;
 	if (check_opal_support(dev) != 0) {
 		pr_debug("Opal is not supported on this device\n");
-		kfree(dev);
-		return NULL;
+		goto err_free_resp;
 	}
 	return dev;
+
+err_free_resp:
+	kfree(dev->resp);
+
+err_free_cmd:
+	kfree(dev->cmd);
+
+err_free_dev:
+	kfree(dev);
+
+	return NULL;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(init_opal_dev);