diff --git a/hw/kdrive/fbdev/fbdev.c b/hw/kdrive/fbdev/fbdev.c
index 4ab88aea8..39e17410b 100644
--- a/hw/kdrive/fbdev/fbdev.c
+++ b/hw/kdrive/fbdev/fbdev.c
@@ -770,14 +770,23 @@ fbdevDPMS (ScreenPtr pScreen, int mode)
 {
     KdScreenPriv(pScreen);
     FbdevPriv	*priv = pScreenPriv->card->driver;
+    static int oldmode = -1;
 
+    if (mode == oldmode)
+	return TRUE;
 #ifdef FBIOPUT_POWERMODE
     if (ioctl (priv->fd, FBIOPUT_POWERMODE, &mode) >= 0)
+    {
+	oldmode = mode;
 	return TRUE;
+    }
 #endif
 #ifdef FBIOBLANK
     if (ioctl (priv->fd, FBIOBLANK, mode ? mode + 1 : 0) >= 0)
+    {
+	oldmode = mode;
 	return TRUE;
+    }
 #endif
     return FALSE;
 }