diff --git a/src/video/kmsdrm/SDL_kmsdrmvideo.c b/src/video/kmsdrm/SDL_kmsdrmvideo.c
--- a/src/video/kmsdrm/SDL_kmsdrmvideo.c
+++ b/src/video/kmsdrm/SDL_kmsdrmvideo.c
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ check_modesetting(int devindex)
     drm_fd = open(device, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
     if (drm_fd >= 0) {
         if (SDL_KMSDRM_LoadSymbols()) {
+          if (KMSDRM_drmSetClientCap(drm_fd, DRM_CLIENT_CAP_ATOMIC, 1) == 0) {
             drmModeRes *resources = KMSDRM_drmModeGetResources(drm_fd);
             if (resources) {
                 SDL_LogDebug(SDL_LOG_CATEGORY_VIDEO, "%scard%d connector, encoder and CRTC counts are: %d %d %d",
@@ -98,7 +99,8 @@ check_modesetting(int devindex)
                 }
                 KMSDRM_drmModeFreeResources(resources);
             }
-            SDL_KMSDRM_UnloadSymbols();
+          }
+          SDL_KMSDRM_UnloadSymbols();
         }
         close(drm_fd);
     }