diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/cirrus/cirrus_main.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/cirrus/cirrus_main.c
index 80446e2d3ab6efd00f3d3e777e4178b26ee6ae5d..76bcb43e7c06ac2dcf56a4d183e61c869a3544c5 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/cirrus/cirrus_main.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/cirrus/cirrus_main.c
@@ -185,14 +185,23 @@ int cirrus_driver_load(struct drm_device *dev, unsigned long flags)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * cirrus_modeset_init() is initializing/registering the emulated fbdev
+	 * and DRM internals can access/test some of the fields in
+	 * mode_config->funcs as part of the fbdev registration process.
+	 * Make sure dev->mode_config.funcs is properly set to avoid
+	 * dereferencing a NULL pointer.
+	 * FIXME: mode_config.funcs assignment should probably be done in
+	 * cirrus_modeset_init() (that's a common pattern seen in other DRM
+	 * drivers).
+	 */
+	dev->mode_config.funcs = &cirrus_mode_funcs;
 	r = cirrus_modeset_init(cdev);
 	if (r) {
 		dev_err(&dev->pdev->dev, "Fatal error during modeset init: %d\n", r);
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	dev->mode_config.funcs = (void *)&cirrus_mode_funcs;
-
 	return 0;
 out:
 	cirrus_driver_unload(dev);