diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
index aa377115483b1512a140002de9b10c21769db160..5c4f9b9ecdc0759d590b691dd75587a0efd25970 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_fb_helper.c
@@ -1533,3 +1533,24 @@ bool drm_fb_helper_hotplug_event(struct drm_fb_helper *fb_helper)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_fb_helper_hotplug_event);
 
+/* The Kconfig DRM_KMS_HELPER selects FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE (if !EMBEDDED)
+ * but the module doesn't depend on any fb console symbols.  At least
+ * attempt to load fbcon to avoid leaving the system without a usable console.
+ */
+#if defined(CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE_MODULE) && !defined(CONFIG_EMBEDDED)
+static int __init drm_fb_helper_modinit(void)
+{
+	const char *name = "fbcon";
+	struct module *fbcon;
+
+	mutex_lock(&module_mutex);
+	fbcon = find_module(name);
+	mutex_unlock(&module_mutex);
+
+	if (!fbcon)
+		request_module_nowait(name);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+module_init(drm_fb_helper_modinit);
+#endif