diff --git a/src/login/logind-session.c b/src/login/logind-session.c
index 9e8f04d3ea..1ef73570e5 100644
--- a/src/login/logind-session.c
+++ b/src/login/logind-session.c
@@ -1239,23 +1239,27 @@ error:
 }
 
 static void session_restore_vt(Session *s) {
-        int r, vt, old_fd;
+        int r;
 
-        /* We need to get a fresh handle to the virtual terminal,
-         * since the old file-descriptor is potentially in a hung-up
-         * state after the controlling process exited; we do a
-         * little dance to avoid having the terminal be available
-         * for reuse before we've cleaned it up.
-         */
-        old_fd = TAKE_FD(s->vtfd);
+        r = vt_restore(s->vtfd);
+        if (r == -EIO) {
+                int vt, old_fd;
 
-        vt = session_open_vt(s);
-        safe_close(old_fd);
+                /* It might happen if the controlling process exited before or while we were
+                 * restoring the VT as it would leave the old file-descriptor in a hung-up
+                 * state. In this case let's retry with a fresh handle to the virtual terminal. */
 
-        if (vt < 0)
-                return;
+                /* We do a little dance to avoid having the terminal be available
+                 * for reuse before we've cleaned it up. */
+                old_fd = TAKE_FD(s->vtfd);
+
+                vt = session_open_vt(s);
+                safe_close(old_fd);
+
+                if (vt >= 0)
+                        r = vt_restore(vt);
+        }
 
-        r = vt_restore(vt);
         if (r < 0)
                 log_warning_errno(r, "Failed to restore VT, ignoring: %m");