diff --git a/shared-bindings/_stage/__init__.c b/shared-bindings/_stage/__init__.c
index dc9dbef659..03775b1ded 100644
--- a/shared-bindings/_stage/__init__.c
+++ b/shared-bindings/_stage/__init__.c
@@ -83,10 +83,12 @@ STATIC mp_obj_t stage_render(size_t n_args, const mp_obj_t *args) {
     uint16_t *buffer = bufinfo.buf;
     size_t buffer_size = bufinfo.len / 2; // 16-bit indexing
 
-    if (!MP_OBJ_IS_TYPE(args[6], &displayio_display_type)) {
+    mp_obj_t native_display = mp_instance_cast_to_native_base(args[6],
+        &displayio_display_type);
+    if (!MP_OBJ_IS_TYPE(native_display, &displayio_display_type)) {
         mp_raise_TypeError(translate("argument num/types mismatch"));
     }
-    displayio_display_obj_t *display = MP_OBJ_TO_PTR(args[6]);
+    displayio_display_obj_t *display = MP_OBJ_TO_PTR(native_display);
 
     while (!displayio_display_begin_transaction(display)) {
 #ifdef MICROPY_VM_HOOK_LOOP