diff --git a/hw/xfree86/fbdevhw/fbdevhw.c b/hw/xfree86/fbdevhw/fbdevhw.c
index 8157742a7..2fb1337cc 100644
--- a/hw/xfree86/fbdevhw/fbdevhw.c
+++ b/hw/xfree86/fbdevhw/fbdevhw.c
@@ -235,10 +235,12 @@ fbdev2xfree_timing(struct fb_var_screeninfo *var, DisplayModePtr mode)
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /* open correct framebuffer device                                      */
 
+
+/* Wrapper around open() that also get the framebuffer name */
 static int
-fbdev_set_name(int scrnIndex, int fd, char **namep, Bool print_warning, Bool close_fd_on_error)
+fbdev_open_device(int scrnIndex, const char *dev, char **namep)
 {
-    struct fb_fix_screeninfo fix;
+    int fd = dev ? open(dev, O_RDWR) : -1;
 
     if (!namep) {
         return fd;
@@ -248,17 +250,14 @@ fbdev_set_name(int scrnIndex, int fd, char **namep, Bool print_warning, Bool clo
         return -1;
     }
 
+    struct fb_fix_screeninfo fix;
+
     if (ioctl(fd, FBIOGET_FSCREENINFO, (void *) (&fix)) == -1) {
         *namep = NULL;
-        if (print_warning) {
-            xf86DrvMsg(scrnIndex, X_ERROR,
-                       "FBIOGET_FSCREENINFO: %s\n", strerror(errno));
-        }
-        if (close_fd_on_error) {
-            close(fd);
-            return -1;
-        }
-        return fd;
+        xf86DrvMsg(scrnIndex, X_ERROR,
+                   "Not using framebuffer device %s: FBIOGET_FSCREENINFO: %s\n", dev, strerror(errno));
+        close(fd);
+        return -1;
     }
     *namep = malloc(16);
     if (*namep) {
@@ -272,21 +271,15 @@ fbdev_check_user_devices(int scrnIndex, const char* dev, char **namep)
 {
     int fd;
 
-    if (namep) {
-        *namep = NULL;
-    }
-
     /* try argument (from XF86Config) first */
     if (dev) {
-        fd = open(dev, O_RDWR);
-    }
-    else {
+        fd = fbdev_open_device(scrnIndex, dev, namep);
+    } else {
         /* second: environment variable */
         dev = getenv("FRAMEBUFFER");
-        fd = dev ? open(dev, O_RDWR) : -1;
+        fd = fbdev_open_device(scrnIndex, dev, namep);
     }
 
-    fd = fbdev_set_name(scrnIndex, fd, namep, TRUE, FALSE);
     if (dev && fd == -1) {
         xf86DrvMsg(scrnIndex, X_ERROR,
                    "Could not use the explicitly provided framebuffer: %s\n", dev);
@@ -326,8 +319,7 @@ fbdev_open_pci(int scrnIndex, struct pci_device *pPci, const char *device, char
             close(fd);
             snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "/dev/fb%d", i);
 
-            fd = open(filename, O_RDWR);
-            fd = fbdev_set_name(scrnIndex, fd, namep, FALSE, TRUE);
+            fd = fbdev_open_device(scrnIndex, filename, namep);
             if (fd != -1) {
                 return fd;
             }
@@ -352,21 +344,20 @@ fbdev_open(int scrnIndex, const char *dev, char **namep)
 
     /* try the default device symlink */
     dev = "/dev/fb";
-    fd = open(dev, O_RDWR);
+    fd = fbdev_open_device(scrnIndex, dev, namep);
 
     /* last tries, framebuffers 0 through 7 */
     char devbuf[] = "/dev/fb0";
     for (int i = 0; i < 8 && fd == -1; i++) {
         devbuf[sizeof(devbuf) - 2] = i + '0';
-        fd = open(devbuf, O_RDWR);
+        fd = fbdev_open_device(scrnIndex, devbuf, namep);
     }
 
     if (fd == -1) {
         xf86DrvMsg(scrnIndex, X_ERROR, "Unable to find a valid framebuffer device\n");
-        return -1;
     }
 
-    return fbdev_set_name(scrnIndex, fd, namep, TRUE, TRUE);
+    return fd;
 }
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------- */