diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi_bfin5xx.c b/drivers/spi/spi_bfin5xx.c
index 88dee87fc420fa81dc310d3ad18e68a46ef31ca8..e706de1d10c840ee6d8730cd12eec15c3ee1704f 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi_bfin5xx.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi_bfin5xx.c
@@ -557,6 +557,7 @@ static irqreturn_t dma_irq_handler(int irq, void *dev_id)
 	struct driver_data *drv_data = dev_id;
 	struct chip_data *chip = drv_data->cur_chip;
 	struct spi_message *msg = drv_data->cur_msg;
+	unsigned long timeout;
 	unsigned short dmastat = get_dma_curr_irqstat(drv_data->dma_channel);
 	u16 spistat = read_STAT(drv_data);
 
@@ -582,8 +583,17 @@ static irqreturn_t dma_irq_handler(int irq, void *dev_id)
 			cpu_relax();
 	}
 
+	dev_dbg(&drv_data->pdev->dev,
+		"in dma_irq_handler dmastat:0x%x spistat:0x%x\n",
+		dmastat, read_STAT(drv_data));
+
+	timeout = jiffies + HZ;
 	while (!(read_STAT(drv_data) & SPIF))
-		cpu_relax();
+		if (!time_before(jiffies, timeout)) {
+			dev_warn(&drv_data->pdev->dev, "timeout waiting for SPIF");
+			break;
+		} else
+			cpu_relax();
 
 	if ((dmastat & DMA_ERR) && (spistat & RBSY)) {
 		msg->state = ERROR_STATE;