diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-omap.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-omap.c
index 23c2ea2baedc..b9172f08fd05 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-omap.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-omap.c
@@ -486,6 +486,22 @@ static int omap_i2c_init(struct omap_i2c_dev *omap)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Try bus recovery, but only if SDA is actually low.
+ */
+static int omap_i2c_recover_bus(struct omap_i2c_dev *omap)
+{
+	u16 systest;
+
+	systest = omap_i2c_read_reg(omap, OMAP_I2C_SYSTEST_REG);
+	if ((systest & OMAP_I2C_SYSTEST_SCL_I_FUNC) &&
+	    (systest & OMAP_I2C_SYSTEST_SDA_I_FUNC))
+		return 0; /* bus seems to already be fine */
+	if (!(systest & OMAP_I2C_SYSTEST_SCL_I_FUNC))
+		return -EBUSY; /* recovery would not fix SCL */
+	return i2c_recover_bus(&omap->adapter);
+}
+
 /*
  * Waiting on Bus Busy
  */
@@ -496,7 +512,7 @@ static int omap_i2c_wait_for_bb(struct omap_i2c_dev *omap)
 	timeout = jiffies + OMAP_I2C_TIMEOUT;
 	while (omap_i2c_read_reg(omap, OMAP_I2C_STAT_REG) & OMAP_I2C_STAT_BB) {
 		if (time_after(jiffies, timeout))
-			return i2c_recover_bus(&omap->adapter);
+			return omap_i2c_recover_bus(omap);
 		msleep(1);
 	}
 
@@ -577,8 +593,13 @@ static int omap_i2c_wait_for_bb_valid(struct omap_i2c_dev *omap)
 		}
 
 		if (time_after(jiffies, timeout)) {
+			/*
+			 * SDA or SCL were low for the entire timeout without
+			 * any activity detected. Most likely, a slave is
+			 * locking up the bus with no master driving the clock.
+			 */
 			dev_warn(omap->dev, "timeout waiting for bus ready\n");
-			return -ETIMEDOUT;
+			return omap_i2c_recover_bus(omap);
 		}
 
 		msleep(1);