diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-pxa.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-pxa.c
index fa8dd2c634d9e..86128363a57fc 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-pxa.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-pxa.c
@@ -770,8 +770,10 @@ static int i2c_pxa_do_xfer(struct pxa_i2c *i2c, struct i2c_msg *msg, int num)
 	 */
 	ret = i2c->msg_idx;
 
-	if (timeout == 0)
+	if (!timeout && i2c->msg_num) {
 		i2c_pxa_scream_blue_murder(i2c, "timeout");
+		ret = I2C_RETRY;
+	}
 
  out:
 	return ret;