diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-davinci.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-davinci.c
index 2222c87876b..b8feac5f2ef 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-davinci.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-davinci.c
@@ -357,9 +357,6 @@ i2c_davinci_xfer_msg(struct i2c_adapter *adap, struct i2c_msg *msg, int stop)
 
 	dev->terminate = 0;
 
-	/* write the data into mode register */
-	davinci_i2c_write_reg(dev, DAVINCI_I2C_MDR_REG, flag);
-
 	/*
 	 * First byte should be set here, not after interrupt,
 	 * because transmit-data-ready interrupt can come before
@@ -371,6 +368,9 @@ i2c_davinci_xfer_msg(struct i2c_adapter *adap, struct i2c_msg *msg, int stop)
 		dev->buf_len--;
 	}
 
+	/* write the data into mode register; start transmitting */
+	davinci_i2c_write_reg(dev, DAVINCI_I2C_MDR_REG, flag);
+
 	r = wait_for_completion_interruptible_timeout(&dev->cmd_complete,
 						      dev->adapter.timeout);
 	if (r == 0) {