diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c
index 8be60a4576b3..7a7019ac9388 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_connector.c
@@ -379,6 +379,9 @@ int drm_connector_register(struct drm_connector *connector)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
 
+	if (!connector->dev->registered)
+		return 0;
+
 	mutex_lock(&connector->mutex);
 	if (connector->registered)
 		goto unlock;
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_drv.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_drv.c
index a525751b4559..6594b4088f11 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_drv.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_drv.c
@@ -745,6 +745,8 @@ int drm_dev_register(struct drm_device *dev, unsigned long flags)
 	if (ret)
 		goto err_minors;
 
+	dev->registered = true;
+
 	if (dev->driver->load) {
 		ret = dev->driver->load(dev, flags);
 		if (ret)
@@ -785,6 +787,8 @@ void drm_dev_unregister(struct drm_device *dev)
 
 	drm_lastclose(dev);
 
+	dev->registered = false;
+
 	if (drm_core_check_feature(dev, DRIVER_MODESET))
 		drm_modeset_unregister_all(dev);
 
diff --git a/include/drm/drmP.h b/include/drm/drmP.h
index 192016e2b518..9c4ee144b5f6 100644
--- a/include/drm/drmP.h
+++ b/include/drm/drmP.h
@@ -517,6 +517,7 @@ struct drm_device {
 	struct drm_minor *control;		/**< Control node */
 	struct drm_minor *primary;		/**< Primary node */
 	struct drm_minor *render;		/**< Render node */
+	bool registered;
 
 	/* currently active master for this device. Protected by master_mutex */
 	struct drm_master *master;