In a memory subsystem, a memory controller can put its physical interface (PHY) into a low power state when an associated memory device is in self-refresh. Instead of powering on the interface and then triggering the memory device to exit self-refresh, or instead waiting for the physical interface to be powered up prior to waking the memory device from self-refresh, the memory controller can instruct the PHY to send a self-refresh exit command to the memory device and power up the physical interface in parallel with the memory device coming out of self-refresh. The memory controller can power down a high speed clock path of the PHY and use a slower clock path to send the self-refresh exit command before powering the high speed clock path back up.