diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c
index 1d0bafedd585..226d8d4629d2 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c
@@ -1242,10 +1242,15 @@ void msm_drv_shutdown(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	struct msm_drm_private *priv = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 	struct drm_device *drm = priv ? priv->dev : NULL;
 
-	if (!priv || !priv->kms)
-		return;
-
-	drm_atomic_helper_shutdown(drm);
+	/*
+	 * Shutdown the hw if we're far enough along where things might be on.
+	 * If we run this too early, we'll end up panicking in any variety of
+	 * places. Since we don't register the drm device until late in
+	 * msm_drm_init, drm_dev->registered is used as an indicator that the
+	 * shutdown will be successful.
+	 */
+	if (drm && drm->registered)
+		drm_atomic_helper_shutdown(drm);
 }
 
 static struct platform_driver msm_platform_driver = {