diff --git a/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c b/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c
index 806ecd32219b..2f4319f610fe 100644
--- a/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c
+++ b/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c
@@ -315,7 +315,8 @@ static void fb_deferred_io_lastclose(struct fb_info *info)
 	struct page *page;
 	int i;
 
-	flush_delayed_work(&info->deferred_work);
+	if (!list_empty(&info->fbdefio->pagereflist))
+		flush_delayed_work(&info->deferred_work);
 
 	/* clear out the mapping that we setup */
 	for (i = 0 ; i < info->fix.smem_len; i += PAGE_SIZE) {