diff --git a/src/freedreno/drm/freedreno_bo.c b/src/freedreno/drm/freedreno_bo.c
index a4218cd8ffb..b6d5cdd9bec 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/drm/freedreno_bo.c
+++ b/src/freedreno/drm/freedreno_bo.c
@@ -236,6 +236,8 @@ fd_bo_mark_for_dump(struct fd_bo *bo)
 
 uint64_t fd_bo_get_iova(struct fd_bo *bo)
 {
+	/* ancient kernels did not support this */
+	assert(bo->iova != 0);
 	return bo->iova;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/freedreno/drm/msm_bo.c b/src/freedreno/drm/msm_bo.c
index da2609903c1..7253a8cc7bd 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/drm/msm_bo.c
+++ b/src/freedreno/drm/msm_bo.c
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ static uint64_t msm_bo_iova(struct fd_bo *bo)
 	int ret;
 
 	ret = drmCommandWriteRead(bo->dev->fd, DRM_MSM_GEM_INFO, &req, sizeof(req));
-	debug_assert(ret == 0);
+	if (ret)
+		return 0;
 
 	return req.value;
 }