diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
index 0d8384e30e16..84791dd4a90d 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
@@ -3312,8 +3312,6 @@ int drm_fbdev_generic_setup(struct drm_device *dev, unsigned int preferred_bpp)
 		return ret;
 	}
 
-	drm_client_add(&fb_helper->client);
-
 	if (!preferred_bpp)
 		preferred_bpp = dev->mode_config.preferred_depth;
 	if (!preferred_bpp)
@@ -3324,6 +3322,8 @@ int drm_fbdev_generic_setup(struct drm_device *dev, unsigned int preferred_bpp)
 	if (ret)
 		DRM_DEV_DEBUG(dev->dev, "client hotplug ret=%d\n", ret);
 
+	drm_client_add(&fb_helper->client);
+
 	return 0;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_fbdev_generic_setup);