diff --git a/drivers/gpio/gpio-mpc8xxx.c b/drivers/gpio/gpio-mpc8xxx.c
index 58ff37219fce..81f0f31e04d9 100644
--- a/drivers/gpio/gpio-mpc8xxx.c
+++ b/drivers/gpio/gpio-mpc8xxx.c
@@ -377,7 +377,8 @@ static int mpc8xxx_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	 * It's assumed that only a single type of gpio controller is available
 	 * on the current machine, so overwriting global data is fine.
 	 */
-	mpc8xxx_irq_chip.irq_set_type = devtype->irq_set_type;
+	if (devtype->irq_set_type)
+		mpc8xxx_irq_chip.irq_set_type = devtype->irq_set_type;
 
 	if (devtype->gpio_dir_out)
 		gc->direction_output = devtype->gpio_dir_out;