diff --git a/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_fs.cpp b/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_fs.cpp
index 1943ab6021f..75454be13ed 100644
--- a/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_fs.cpp
+++ b/src/mesa/drivers/dri/i965/brw_fs.cpp
@@ -2531,11 +2531,8 @@ fs_visitor::generate_tex(fs_inst *inst, struct brw_reg dst, struct brw_reg src)
    int rlen = 4;
    uint32_t simd_mode = BRW_SAMPLER_SIMD_MODE_SIMD8;
 
-   if (c->dispatch_width == 16) {
-      rlen = 8;
-      dst = vec16(dst);
+   if (c->dispatch_width == 16)
       simd_mode = BRW_SAMPLER_SIMD_MODE_SIMD16;
-   }
 
    if (intel->gen >= 5) {
       switch (inst->opcode) {
@@ -2570,6 +2567,7 @@ fs_visitor::generate_tex(fs_inst *inst, struct brw_reg dst, struct brw_reg src)
 	 /* Note that G45 and older determines shadow compare and dispatch width
 	  * from message length for most messages.
 	  */
+	 assert(c->dispatch_width == 8);
 	 msg_type = BRW_SAMPLER_MESSAGE_SIMD8_SAMPLE;
 	 if (inst->shadow_compare) {
 	    assert(inst->mlen == 6);
@@ -2604,6 +2602,11 @@ fs_visitor::generate_tex(fs_inst *inst, struct brw_reg dst, struct brw_reg src)
    }
    assert(msg_type != -1);
 
+   if (simd_mode == BRW_SAMPLER_SIMD_MODE_SIMD16) {
+      rlen = 8;
+      dst = vec16(dst);
+   }
+
    brw_SAMPLE(p,
 	      retype(dst, BRW_REGISTER_TYPE_UW),
 	      inst->base_mrf,