diff --git a/src/backends/drm/drm_output.cpp b/src/backends/drm/drm_output.cpp
index fb563a8d0e..e3f7576a24 100644
--- a/src/backends/drm/drm_output.cpp
+++ b/src/backends/drm/drm_output.cpp
@@ -372,6 +372,7 @@ bool DrmOutput::needsSoftwareTransformation() const
 bool DrmOutput::present(const QSharedPointer<DrmBuffer> &buffer, QRegion damagedRegion)
 {
     if (!buffer || buffer->bufferId() == 0) {
+        presentFailed();
         return false;
     }
     RenderLoopPrivate *renderLoopPrivate = RenderLoopPrivate::get(m_renderLoop);
diff --git a/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.cpp b/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.cpp
index 9a166cdb5d..843cc72094 100644
--- a/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.cpp
+++ b/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.cpp
@@ -47,12 +47,7 @@ DrmPipeline::~DrmPipeline()
 bool DrmPipeline::present(const QSharedPointer<DrmBuffer> &buffer)
 {
     Q_ASSERT(pending.crtc);
-    if (!buffer) {
-        if (m_output) {
-            m_output->presentFailed();
-        }
-        return false;
-    }
+    Q_ASSERT(buffer);
     m_primaryBuffer = buffer;
     auto buf = dynamic_cast<DrmGbmBuffer*>(buffer.data());
     // with direct scanout disallow modesets, calling presentFailed() and logging warnings