diff --git a/drivers/char/hvc_console.c b/drivers/char/hvc_console.c
index cddb789902d..f9217763467 100644
--- a/drivers/char/hvc_console.c
+++ b/drivers/char/hvc_console.c
@@ -839,9 +839,6 @@ int __init hvc_init(void)
 	hvc_driver->flags = TTY_DRIVER_REAL_RAW;
 	tty_set_operations(hvc_driver, &hvc_ops);
 
-	if (tty_register_driver(hvc_driver))
-		panic("Couldn't register hvc console driver\n");
-
 	/* Always start the kthread because there can be hotplug vty adapters
 	 * added later. */
 	hvc_task = kthread_run(khvcd, NULL, "khvcd");
@@ -851,6 +848,9 @@ int __init hvc_init(void)
 		return -EIO;
 	}
 
+	if (tty_register_driver(hvc_driver))
+		panic("Couldn't register hvc console driver\n");
+
 	return 0;
 }
 module_init(hvc_init);