diff --git a/src/drmmode_display.c b/src/drmmode_display.c
index 4c35657b..92baae74 100644
--- a/src/drmmode_display.c
+++ b/src/drmmode_display.c
@@ -1047,14 +1047,22 @@ static void drmmode_show_cursor(xf86CrtcPtr crtc)
 			 info->cursor_w, info->cursor_h);
 }
 
+/* Xorg passes the return value of drmmode_crtc_shadow_allocate to
+ * drmmode_crtc_scanout_create, but that's redundant for us; just check that
+ * we're not getting an unexpected value back.
+ */
+#define SHADOW_TOKEN(dmmode_crtc) (void*)(0UL - drmmode_crtc->hw_id - 1)
+
 static void *drmmode_crtc_shadow_allocate(xf86CrtcPtr crtc, int width,
 					  int height)
 {
 	drmmode_crtc_private_ptr drmmode_crtc = crtc->driver_private;
-	int pitch;
 
-	return drmmode_crtc_scanout_allocate(crtc, &drmmode_crtc->rotate,
-					     width, height, &pitch);
+	if (!drmmode_crtc_scanout_create(crtc, &drmmode_crtc->rotate, width,
+					 height))
+		return NULL;
+
+	return SHADOW_TOKEN(drmmode_crtc);
 }
 
 static PixmapPtr
@@ -1062,11 +1070,13 @@ drmmode_crtc_shadow_create(xf86CrtcPtr crtc, void *data, int width, int height)
 {
 	drmmode_crtc_private_ptr drmmode_crtc = crtc->driver_private;
 
-	/* Xorg passes in the return value of drmmode_crtc_shadow_allocate
-	 * for data, but that's redundant for drmmode_crtc_scanout_create.
-	 */
-	return drmmode_crtc_scanout_create(crtc, &drmmode_crtc->rotate, width,
-					   height);
+	if (data != SHADOW_TOKEN(drmmode_crtc)) {
+		ErrorF("%s: Unexpected data parameter %p, expected %p\n",
+		       __func__, data, SHADOW_TOKEN(drmmode_crtc));
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	return drmmode_crtc->rotate.pixmap;
 }
 
 static void