diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_fbdev.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_fbdev.c
index 8c6a6fa46005..ab2b856d91c3 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_fbdev.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_fbdev.c
@@ -689,6 +689,8 @@ int intel_fbdev_init(struct drm_device *dev)
 		return ret;
 	}
 
+	ifbdev->helper.atomic = true;
+
 	dev_priv->fbdev = ifbdev;
 	INIT_WORK(&dev_priv->fbdev_suspend_work, intel_fbdev_suspend_worker);