diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic.c
index 281cf9cbb44c..1a4b44923aec 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic.c
@@ -1702,6 +1702,27 @@ drm_atomic_set_crtc_for_connector(struct drm_connector_state *conn_state,
 	struct drm_connector *connector = conn_state->connector;
 	struct drm_crtc_state *crtc_state;
 
+	/*
+	 * For compatibility with legacy users, we want to make sure that
+	 * we allow DPMS On<->Off modesets on unregistered connectors, since
+	 * legacy modesetting users will not be expecting these to fail. We do
+	 * not however, want to allow legacy users to assign a connector
+	 * that's been unregistered from sysfs to another CRTC, since doing
+	 * this with a now non-existent connector could potentially leave us
+	 * in an invalid state.
+	 *
+	 * Since the connector can be unregistered at any point during an
+	 * atomic check or commit, this is racy. But that's OK: all we care
+	 * about is ensuring that userspace can't use this connector for new
+	 * configurations after it's been notified that the connector is no
+	 * longer present.
+	 */
+	if (!READ_ONCE(connector->registered) && crtc) {
+		DRM_DEBUG_ATOMIC("[CONNECTOR:%d:%s] is not registered\n",
+				 connector->base.id, connector->name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	if (conn_state->crtc == crtc)
 		return 0;
 
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c
index 71c70a031a04..c22062cc9992 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic_helper.c
@@ -307,26 +307,6 @@ update_connector_routing(struct drm_atomic_state *state,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	crtc_state = drm_atomic_get_new_crtc_state(state,
-						   new_connector_state->crtc);
-	/*
-	 * For compatibility with legacy users, we want to make sure that
-	 * we allow DPMS On->Off modesets on unregistered connectors. Modesets
-	 * which would result in anything else must be considered invalid, to
-	 * avoid turning on new displays on dead connectors.
-	 *
-	 * Since the connector can be unregistered at any point during an
-	 * atomic check or commit, this is racy. But that's OK: all we care
-	 * about is ensuring that userspace can't do anything but shut off the
-	 * display on a connector that was destroyed after its been notified,
-	 * not before.
-	 */
-	if (!READ_ONCE(connector->registered) && crtc_state->active) {
-		DRM_DEBUG_ATOMIC("[CONNECTOR:%d:%s] is not registered\n",
-				 connector->base.id, connector->name);
-		return -EINVAL;
-	}
-
 	funcs = connector->helper_private;
 
 	if (funcs->atomic_best_encoder)
@@ -371,6 +351,7 @@ update_connector_routing(struct drm_atomic_state *state,
 
 	set_best_encoder(state, new_connector_state, new_encoder);
 
+	crtc_state = drm_atomic_get_new_crtc_state(state, new_connector_state->crtc);
 	crtc_state->connectors_changed = true;
 
 	DRM_DEBUG_ATOMIC("[CONNECTOR:%d:%s] using [ENCODER:%d:%s] on [CRTC:%d:%s]\n",