diff --git a/shared-module/rgbmatrix/RGBMatrix.c b/shared-module/rgbmatrix/RGBMatrix.c
index 6fb36f6e3a..edeef7c1fc 100644
--- a/shared-module/rgbmatrix/RGBMatrix.c
+++ b/shared-module/rgbmatrix/RGBMatrix.c
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ void common_hal_rgbmatrix_rgbmatrix_construct(rgbmatrix_rgbmatrix_obj_t *self, i
 }
 
 void common_hal_rgbmatrix_rgbmatrix_reconstruct(rgbmatrix_rgbmatrix_obj_t* self, mp_obj_t framebuffer) {
+    common_hal_rgbmatrix_timer_disable(self->timer);
     if (framebuffer) {
         self->framebuffer = framebuffer;
         framebuffer = mp_obj_new_bytearray_of_zeros(self->bufsize);