diff --git a/src/backends/drm/drm_gpu.cpp b/src/backends/drm/drm_gpu.cpp
index dac72f3d85..dbb3b7fed9 100644
--- a/src/backends/drm/drm_gpu.cpp
+++ b/src/backends/drm/drm_gpu.cpp
@@ -702,6 +702,12 @@ void DrmGpu::setActive(bool active)
             }
             // while the session was inactive, the output list may have changed
             m_platform->updateOutputs();
+            for (const auto &output : std::as_const(m_drmOutputs)) {
+                // force a modeset with legacy, we can't reliably know if one is needed
+                if (!atomicModeSetting()) {
+                    output->pipeline()->forceLegacyModeset();
+                }
+            }
         } else {
             for (const auto &output : std::as_const(m_drmOutputs)) {
                 output->renderLoop()->inhibit();
diff --git a/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.h b/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.h
index c438d6523e..36645b88c4 100644
--- a/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.h
+++ b/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline.h
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ public:
     Error present();
     bool testScanout();
     bool maybeModeset();
+    void forceLegacyModeset();
 
     bool needsModeset() const;
     void applyPendingChanges();
diff --git a/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline_legacy.cpp b/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline_legacy.cpp
index c7b0776221..9925e63239 100644
--- a/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline_legacy.cpp
+++ b/src/backends/drm/drm_pipeline_legacy.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ DrmPipeline::Error DrmPipeline::presentLegacy()
     return Error::None;
 }
 
+void DrmPipeline::forceLegacyModeset()
+{
+    legacyModeset();
+}
+
 DrmPipeline::Error DrmPipeline::legacyModeset()
 {
     uint32_t connId = m_connector->id();