diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_display.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_display.c
index 139368b31916b..7db01ea7fd413 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_display.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_display.c
@@ -355,8 +355,6 @@ nouveau_display_hpd_work(struct work_struct *work)
 	pm_runtime_get_sync(drm->dev->dev);
 
 	drm_helper_hpd_irq_event(drm->dev);
-	/* enable polling for external displays */
-	drm_kms_helper_poll_enable(drm->dev);
 
 	pm_runtime_mark_last_busy(drm->dev->dev);
 	pm_runtime_put_sync(drm->dev->dev);
@@ -411,6 +409,11 @@ nouveau_display_init(struct drm_device *dev)
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
+	/* enable connector detection and polling for connectors without HPD
+	 * support
+	 */
+	drm_kms_helper_poll_enable(dev);
+
 	/* enable hotplug interrupts */
 	drm_connector_list_iter_begin(dev, &conn_iter);
 	nouveau_for_each_non_mst_connector_iter(connector, &conn_iter) {