diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.td b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.td
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.td
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.td
@@ -49,13 +49,17 @@
     Both dense and sparse tensor types are supported. The result of a
     `bufferization.alloc_tensor` is a tensor value that can be used like any
     other tensor value. In practice, it is often used as the "out" operand of
-    another op. E.g.:
+    another op. Sparse tensor allocations should always be used in a local
+    construction operation and never escape the function boundary directly.
+
+    Example:
 
     ```mlir
     %c = bufferization.alloc_tensor [%d1, %d2] : tensor<?x?xf32, #SparseMatrix>
     %0 = linalg.matmul
       ins(%a, %b: tensor<?x?xf32, #SparseMatrix>, tensor<?x?xf32, #SparseMatrix>)
       outs(%c: tensor<?x?xf32, #SparseMatrix>) -> tensor<?x?xf32, #SparseMatrix>
+    return %0 : tensor<?x?xf32, #SparseMatrix>
     ```
   }];
 
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.cpp b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizationOps.cpp
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Arithmetic/IR/Arithmetic.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/BufferizableOpInterface.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/Bufferization.h"
+#include "mlir/Dialect/Func/IR/FuncOps.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/MemRef/IR/MemRef.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/MemRef/Utils/MemRefUtils.h"
+#include "mlir/Dialect/SparseTensor/IR/SparseTensor.h"
 #include "mlir/Dialect/Tensor/IR/Tensor.h"
 #include "mlir/IR/Matchers.h"
 
@@ -250,6 +252,16 @@
            << getType().getNumDynamicDims() << " dynamic sizes";
   if (getCopy() && getCopy().getType() != getType())
     return emitError("expected that `copy` and return type match");
+
+  // For sparse tensor allocation, we require that none of its
+  // uses escapes the function boundary directly.
+  if (sparse_tensor::getSparseTensorEncoding(getType())) {
+    for (auto &use : getOperation()->getUses())
+      if (isa<func::ReturnOp, func::CallOp, func::CallIndirectOp>(
+              use.getOwner()))
+        return emitError("sparse tensor allocation should not escape function");
+  }
+
   return success();
 }
 
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/lib/Dialect/Bufferization/IR/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
   MLIRDialect
   MLIRFuncDialect
   MLIRIR
+  MLIRSparseTensorDialect
   MLIRTensorDialect
   MLIRMemRefDialect
   )
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/Bufferization/invalid.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/Bufferization/invalid.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/Bufferization/invalid.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/Bufferization/invalid.mlir
@@ -54,4 +54,28 @@
   // expected-error @+1{{'bufferization.escape' only valid on bufferizable ops}}
   %0 = memref.cast %m0 {bufferization.escape = [true]} : memref<?xf32> to memref<10xf32>
   return
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+// -----
+
+#DCSR = #sparse_tensor.encoding<{ dimLevelType = [ "compressed", "compressed" ] }>
+
+func.func @sparse_alloc_direct_return() -> tensor<20x40xf32, #DCSR> {
+  // expected-error @+1{{sparse tensor allocation should not escape function}}
+  %0 = bufferization.alloc_tensor() : tensor<20x40xf32, #DCSR>
+  return %0 : tensor<20x40xf32, #DCSR>
+}
+
+// -----
+
+#DCSR = #sparse_tensor.encoding<{ dimLevelType = [ "compressed", "compressed" ] }>
+
+func.func private @foo(tensor<20x40xf32, #DCSR>) -> ()
+
+func.func @sparse_alloc_call() {
+  // expected-error @+1{{sparse tensor allocation should not escape function}}
+  %0 = bufferization.alloc_tensor() : tensor<20x40xf32, #DCSR>
+  call @foo(%0) : (tensor<20x40xf32, #DCSR>) -> ()
+  return
+}
+
diff --git a/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/conversion.mlir b/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/conversion.mlir
--- a/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/conversion.mlir
+++ b/mlir/test/Dialect/SparseTensor/conversion.mlir
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@
 //       CHECK: return %[[T]] : !llvm.ptr<i8>
 func.func @sparse_init(%arg0: index, %arg1: index) -> tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix> {
   %0 = bufferization.alloc_tensor(%arg0, %arg1) : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>
-  return %0 : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>
+  %1 = sparse_tensor.load %0 : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>
+  return %1 : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>
 }
 
 // CHECK-LABEL: func @sparse_release(
@@ -580,6 +581,7 @@
 func.func @sparse_and_dense_init(%arg0: index, %arg1: index)
            -> (tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>, tensor<?x?xf64>) {
   %0 = bufferization.alloc_tensor(%arg0, %arg1) : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>
-  %1 = bufferization.alloc_tensor(%arg0, %arg1) : tensor<?x?xf64>
-  return %0, %1 : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>, tensor<?x?xf64>
+  %1 = sparse_tensor.load %0 : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>
+  %2 = bufferization.alloc_tensor(%arg0, %arg1) : tensor<?x?xf64>
+  return %1, %2 : tensor<?x?xf64, #SparseMatrix>, tensor<?x?xf64>
 }
diff --git a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel
--- a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel
@@ -8958,6 +8958,7 @@
         ":IR",
         ":InferTypeOpInterface",
         ":MemRefDialect",
+        ":SparseTensorDialect",
         ":Support",
         ":TensorDialect",
         "//llvm:Support",