diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c
index 72139ddcede6087ad9ef9d590ee18007b302b8a9..229d4974067758d63dc4737cdb3dc0bad429d2ec 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c
@@ -259,13 +259,24 @@ static int msm_drm_uninit(struct device *dev)
 	struct msm_mdss *mdss = priv->mdss;
 	int i;
 
+	/*
+	 * 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 (ddev->registered) {
+		drm_dev_unregister(ddev);
+		drm_atomic_helper_shutdown(ddev);
+	}
+
 	/* We must cancel and cleanup any pending vblank enable/disable
 	 * work before drm_irq_uninstall() to avoid work re-enabling an
 	 * irq after uninstall has disabled it.
 	 */
 
 	flush_workqueue(priv->wq);
-	destroy_workqueue(priv->wq);
 
 	/* clean up event worker threads */
 	for (i = 0; i < priv->num_crtcs; i++) {
@@ -279,8 +290,6 @@ static int msm_drm_uninit(struct device *dev)
 
 	drm_kms_helper_poll_fini(ddev);
 
-	drm_dev_unregister(ddev);
-
 	msm_perf_debugfs_cleanup(priv);
 	msm_rd_debugfs_cleanup(priv);
 
@@ -288,7 +297,7 @@ static int msm_drm_uninit(struct device *dev)
 	if (fbdev && priv->fbdev)
 		msm_fbdev_free(ddev);
 #endif
-	drm_atomic_helper_shutdown(ddev);
+
 	drm_mode_config_cleanup(ddev);
 
 	pm_runtime_get_sync(dev);
@@ -313,6 +322,7 @@ static int msm_drm_uninit(struct device *dev)
 	ddev->dev_private = NULL;
 	drm_dev_put(ddev);
 
+	destroy_workqueue(priv->wq);
 	kfree(priv);
 
 	return 0;