diff --git a/lib/cufft/fft.jl b/lib/cufft/fft.jl
index e66e576480..320fecb58f 100644
--- a/lib/cufft/fft.jl
+++ b/lib/cufft/fft.jl
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ abstract type CuFFTPlan{T<:cufftNumber, K, inplace} <: Plan{T} end
 Base.convert(::Type{cufftHandle}, p::CuFFTPlan) = p.handle
 
 function CUDA.unsafe_free!(plan::CuFFTPlan, stream::CuStream=stream())
+    # verify that the caller has switched contexts
+    if plan.ctx != context()
+      error("Trying to free $plan from an unrelated context")
+    end
+
     cufftDestroy(plan)
     unsafe_free!(plan.workarea, stream)
 end
diff --git a/src/pool.jl b/src/pool.jl
index b627937de3..911a5682aa 100644
--- a/src/pool.jl
+++ b/src/pool.jl
@@ -351,17 +351,9 @@ Releases a buffer `buf` to the memory pool.
   return
 end
 @inline function _free(buf::Mem.DeviceBuffer; stream::Union{Nothing,CuStream})
-    # NOTE: this function is often called from finalizers, from which we can't switch tasks,
-    #       so we need to take care not to call managed functions (i.e. functions that may
-    #       initialize the CUDA context) because querying the active context using
-    #       `current_context()` takes a lock
-
-    # verify that the caller has called `context!` already, which eagerly activates the
-    # context (i.e. doesn't only set it in the state, but configures the CUDA APIs).
-    handle_ref = Ref{CUcontext}()
-    cuCtxGetCurrent(handle_ref)
-    if buf.ctx.handle != handle_ref[]
-      error("Trying to free $buf from a different context than the one it was allocated from ($(handle_ref[]))")
+    # verify that the caller has switched contexts
+    if buf.ctx != context()
+      error("Trying to free $buf from an unrelated context")
     end
 
     dev = current_device()