diff --git a/py-polars/polars/_utils/parse_expr_input.py b/py-polars/polars/_utils/parse_expr_input.py
index a56a4c178385..e09d2af93501 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/_utils/parse_expr_input.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/_utils/parse_expr_input.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import polars._reexport as pl
 from polars import functions as F
 from polars._utils.deprecation import issue_deprecation_warning
-from polars.exceptions import ComputeError, InvalidOperationError
+from polars.exceptions import ComputeError
 
 with contextlib.suppress(ImportError):  # Module not available when building docs
     import polars.polars as plr
@@ -121,12 +121,6 @@ def parse_as_expression(
     elif isinstance(input, list) and not list_as_lit:
         expr = F.lit(pl.Series(input), dtype=dtype)
         structify = False
-    elif isinstance(input, pl.DataFrame):
-        msg = "A DataFrame is an invalid input"
-        raise InvalidOperationError(msg)
-    elif isinstance(input, pl.LazyFrame):
-        msg = "A LazyFrame is an invalid input"
-        raise InvalidOperationError(msg)
     else:
         expr = F.lit(input, dtype=dtype)
         structify = False
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/functions/lit.py b/py-polars/polars/functions/lit.py
index b636d5f2544a..a2eaad095c50 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/functions/lit.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/functions/lit.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from polars.datatypes import Date, Datetime, Duration, Time
 from polars.dependencies import _check_for_numpy
 from polars.dependencies import numpy as np
+from polars.exceptions import InvalidOperationError
 
 with contextlib.suppress(ImportError):  # Module not available when building docs
     import polars.polars as plr
@@ -75,8 +76,13 @@ def lit(
     >>> pl.lit(pl.Series("y", [[1, 2], [3, 4]]))  # doctest: +IGNORE_RESULT
     """
     time_unit: TimeUnit
-
-    if isinstance(value, datetime):
+    if isinstance(input, pl.DataFrame):
+        msg = "a DataFrame is an invalid input"
+        raise InvalidOperationError(msg)
+    elif isinstance(input, pl.LazyFrame):
+        msg = "a LazyFrame is an invalid input"
+        raise InvalidOperationError(msg)
+    elif isinstance(value, datetime):
         if dtype is not None and (tu := getattr(dtype, "time_unit", "us")) is not None:
             time_unit = tu  # type: ignore[assignment]
         else: