diff --git a/drivers/video/uvesafb.c b/drivers/video/uvesafb.c
index 0b370aebdbfd24d528cab7442d1983801b36b7c5..421770b5e6abb7bcb99cf7d86a0fc5786d7ad2ea 100644
--- a/drivers/video/uvesafb.c
+++ b/drivers/video/uvesafb.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ static u16 maxvf	__devinitdata; /* maximum vertical frequency */
 static u16 maxhf	__devinitdata; /* maximum horizontal frequency */
 static u16 vbemode	__devinitdata; /* force use of a specific VBE mode */
 static char *mode_option __devinitdata;
+static u8  dac_width	= 6;
 
 static struct uvesafb_ktask *uvfb_tasks[UVESAFB_TASKS_MAX];
 static DEFINE_MUTEX(uvfb_lock);
@@ -303,22 +304,10 @@ static void uvesafb_setup_var(struct fb_var_screeninfo *var,
 		var->blue.offset   = 0;
 		var->transp.offset = 0;
 
-		/*
-		 * We're assuming that we can switch the DAC to 8 bits. If
-		 * this proves to be incorrect, we'll update the fields
-		 * later in set_par().
-		 */
-		if (par->vbe_ib.capabilities & VBE_CAP_CAN_SWITCH_DAC) {
-			var->red.length    = 8;
-			var->green.length  = 8;
-			var->blue.length   = 8;
-			var->transp.length = 0;
-		} else {
-			var->red.length    = 6;
-			var->green.length  = 6;
-			var->blue.length   = 6;
-			var->transp.length = 0;
-		}
+		var->red.length    = 8;
+		var->green.length  = 8;
+		var->blue.length   = 8;
+		var->transp.length = 0;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1006,7 +995,7 @@ static int uvesafb_setcolreg(unsigned regno, unsigned red, unsigned green,
 		struct fb_info *info)
 {
 	struct uvesafb_pal_entry entry;
-	int shift = 16 - info->var.green.length;
+	int shift = 16 - dac_width;
 	int err = 0;
 
 	if (regno >= info->cmap.len)
@@ -1055,7 +1044,7 @@ static int uvesafb_setcolreg(unsigned regno, unsigned red, unsigned green,
 static int uvesafb_setcmap(struct fb_cmap *cmap, struct fb_info *info)
 {
 	struct uvesafb_pal_entry *entries;
-	int shift = 16 - info->var.green.length;
+	int shift = 16 - dac_width;
 	int i, err = 0;
 
 	if (info->var.bits_per_pixel == 8) {
@@ -1317,13 +1306,9 @@ static int uvesafb_set_par(struct fb_info *info)
 		err = uvesafb_exec(task);
 		if (err || (task->t.regs.eax & 0xffff) != 0x004f ||
 		    ((task->t.regs.ebx & 0xff00) >> 8) != 8) {
-			/*
-			 * We've failed to set the DAC palette format -
-			 * time to correct var.
-			 */
-			info->var.red.length    = 6;
-			info->var.green.length  = 6;
-			info->var.blue.length   = 6;
+			dac_width = 6;
+		} else {
+			dac_width = 8;
 		}
 	}