diff --git a/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_sampler.h b/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_sampler.h
index 992afafaf8f..4b653516bb9 100644
--- a/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_sampler.h
+++ b/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_sampler.h
@@ -6,15 +6,17 @@
 #ifndef PANVK_SAMPLER_H
 #define PANVK_SAMPLER_H
 
+#ifndef PAN_ARCH
+#error "PAN_ARCH must be defined"
+#endif
+
 #include <stdint.h>
 
 #include "vk_sampler.h"
 
-#define SAMPLER_DESC_WORDS 8
-
 struct panvk_sampler {
    struct vk_sampler vk;
-   uint32_t desc[SAMPLER_DESC_WORDS];
+   struct mali_sampler_packed desc;
 };
 
 VK_DEFINE_NONDISP_HANDLE_CASTS(panvk_sampler, vk.base, VkSampler,
diff --git a/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_vX_sampler.c b/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_vX_sampler.c
index b65ee8ff069..d48cd050cce 100644
--- a/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_vX_sampler.c
+++ b/src/panfrost/vulkan/panvk_vX_sampler.c
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ panvk_per_arch(CreateSampler)(VkDevice _device,
    VkClearColorValue border_color =
       vk_sampler_border_color_value(pCreateInfo, NULL);
 
-   pan_pack(sampler->desc, SAMPLER, cfg) {
+   pan_pack(sampler->desc.opaque, SAMPLER, cfg) {
       cfg.magnify_nearest = pCreateInfo->magFilter == VK_FILTER_NEAREST;
       cfg.minify_nearest = pCreateInfo->minFilter == VK_FILTER_NEAREST;
       cfg.mipmap_mode =