diff -r 44b5c183c3cd -r 8e7da5c45d78 src/mem/cache/cache.cc
--- a/src/mem/cache/cache.cc	Mon Oct 12 04:08:01 2015 -0400
+++ b/src/mem/cache/cache.cc	Tue Oct 13 17:49:05 2015 +0100
@@ -1190,7 +1190,6 @@
 
     // Initial target is used just for stats
     MSHR::Target *initial_tgt = mshr->getTarget();
-    CacheBlk *blk = tags->findBlock(pkt->getAddr(), pkt->isSecure());
     int stats_cmd_idx = initial_tgt->pkt->cmdToIndex();
     Tick miss_latency = curTick() - initial_tgt->recvTime;
     PacketList writebacks;
@@ -1212,16 +1211,18 @@
             miss_latency;
     }
 
+    // upgrade deferred targets if possible
+    mshr->promoteIfExclusive(pkt);
+
     bool is_fill = !mshr->isForward &&
         (pkt->isRead() || pkt->cmd == MemCmd::UpgradeResp);
 
+    CacheBlk *blk = tags->findBlock(pkt->getAddr(), pkt->isSecure());
+
     if (is_fill && !is_error) {
         DPRINTF(Cache, "Block for addr %#llx being updated in Cache\n",
                 pkt->getAddr());
 
-        // give mshr a chance to do some dirty work
-        mshr->handleFill(pkt, blk);
-
         blk = handleFill(pkt, blk, writebacks);
         assert(blk != NULL);
     }
@@ -1264,7 +1265,7 @@
                 assert(!is_error);
 
                 // NB: we use the original packet here and not the response!
-                mshr->handleFill(tgt_pkt, blk);
+                mshr->promoteIfExclusive(tgt_pkt);
                 blk = handleFill(tgt_pkt, blk, writebacks);
                 assert(blk != NULL);
 
diff -r 44b5c183c3cd -r 8e7da5c45d78 src/mem/cache/mshr.hh
--- a/src/mem/cache/mshr.hh	Mon Oct 12 04:08:01 2015 -0400
+++ b/src/mem/cache/mshr.hh	Tue Oct 13 17:49:05 2015 +0100
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@
 
     bool promoteDeferredTargets();
 
-    void handleFill(PacketPtr pkt, CacheBlk *blk);
+    void promoteIfExclusive(const PacketPtr pkt);
 
     bool checkFunctional(PacketPtr pkt);
 
diff -r 44b5c183c3cd -r 8e7da5c45d78 src/mem/cache/mshr.cc
--- a/src/mem/cache/mshr.cc	Mon Oct 12 04:08:01 2015 -0400
+++ b/src/mem/cache/mshr.cc	Tue Oct 13 17:49:05 2015 +0100
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@
 
 
 void
-MSHR::handleFill(PacketPtr pkt, CacheBlk *blk)
+MSHR::promoteIfExclusive(const PacketPtr pkt)
 {
     if (!pkt->sharedAsserted()
         && !(hasPostInvalidate() || hasPostDowngrade())