The disassembly of non-motile cilia (the antenna-like structures that transduce extracellular signals) prior to mitosis has been shown to be mediated by the interaction of the scaffold protein HEF1 with Aurora A kinase, but how these proteins are activated had remained unclear. Here, Lee et al. reveal key roles for Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) and the WNT signalling mediator Dishevelled 2 upstream of HEF1 and Aurora A. The authors observed that, following activation by the non-canonical WNT ligand WNT5A, casein kinase 1δ (CK1δ) or CK1ɛ phosphorylated Dishevelled 2 at Ser143 and Thr224, inducing the formation of a Dishevelled 2–PLK1 complex. Further analysis showed that the Dishevelled 2–PLK1 complex induced by CK1ɛ is important for the stabilization of HEF1 (in a manner dependent on the kinase activity of PLK1) and thus for the interaction of HEF1 with Aurora A, ultimately leading to cilium disassembly.