diff --git a/sound/soc/fsl/fsl_ssi.c b/sound/soc/fsl/fsl_ssi.c
index 9e97a0529f37..939d1b8894dc 100644
--- a/sound/soc/fsl/fsl_ssi.c
+++ b/sound/soc/fsl/fsl_ssi.c
@@ -1079,6 +1079,9 @@ static int fsl_ssi_set_dai_fmt(struct snd_soc_dai *cpu_dai, unsigned int fmt)
 {
 	struct fsl_ssi_private *ssi_private = snd_soc_dai_get_drvdata(cpu_dai);
 
+	if (fsl_ssi_is_ac97(ssi_private))
+		return 0;
+
 	return _fsl_ssi_set_dai_fmt(cpu_dai->dev, ssi_private, fmt);
 }