diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-rcar.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-rcar.c
index bff9913c37b8..fc13511f4562 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-rcar.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-rcar.c
@@ -339,6 +339,9 @@ static void rcar_i2c_prepare_msg(struct rcar_i2c_priv *priv)
 		priv->flags |= ID_LAST_MSG;
 
 	rcar_i2c_write(priv, ICMAR, i2c_8bit_addr_from_msg(priv->msg));
+	if (!priv->atomic_xfer)
+		rcar_i2c_write(priv, ICMIER, read ? RCAR_IRQ_RECV : RCAR_IRQ_SEND);
+
 	/*
 	 * We don't have a test case but the HW engineers say that the write order
 	 * of ICMSR and ICMCR depends on whether we issue START or REP_START. Since
@@ -354,9 +357,6 @@ static void rcar_i2c_prepare_msg(struct rcar_i2c_priv *priv)
 			rcar_i2c_write(priv, ICMCR, RCAR_BUS_PHASE_START);
 		rcar_i2c_write(priv, ICMSR, 0);
 	}
-
-	if (!priv->atomic_xfer)
-		rcar_i2c_write(priv, ICMIER, read ? RCAR_IRQ_RECV : RCAR_IRQ_SEND);
 }
 
 static void rcar_i2c_next_msg(struct rcar_i2c_priv *priv)