diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/io.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/io.h
index 07e3d6a049ad..0305729d0986 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/io.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/io.h
@@ -60,7 +60,9 @@ static inline int __must_check wlcore_raw_write(struct wl1271 *wl, int addr,
 {
 	int ret;
 
-	if (test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_IO_FAILED, &wl->flags))
+	if (test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_IO_FAILED, &wl->flags) ||
+	    WARN_ON((test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_IN_ELP, &wl->flags) &&
+		     addr != HW_ACCESS_ELP_CTRL_REG)))
 		return -EIO;
 
 	ret = wl->if_ops->write(wl->dev, addr, buf, len, fixed);
@@ -76,7 +78,9 @@ static inline int __must_check wlcore_raw_read(struct wl1271 *wl, int addr,
 {
 	int ret;
 
-	if (test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_IO_FAILED, &wl->flags))
+	if (test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_IO_FAILED, &wl->flags) ||
+	    WARN_ON((test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_IN_ELP, &wl->flags) &&
+		     addr != HW_ACCESS_ELP_CTRL_REG)))
 		return -EIO;
 
 	ret = wl->if_ops->read(wl->dev, addr, buf, len, fixed);