diff --git a/drivers/firmware/arm_scmi/driver.c b/drivers/firmware/arm_scmi/driver.c
index b28111ea7c8b..b406b3f78f46 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/arm_scmi/driver.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/arm_scmi/driver.c
@@ -2067,9 +2067,11 @@ static int __init scmi_driver_init(void)
 {
 	int ret;
 
-	scmi_bus_init();
+	/* Bail out if no SCMI transport was configured */
+	if (WARN_ON(!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARM_SCMI_HAVE_TRANSPORT)))
+		return -EINVAL;
 
-	BUILD_BUG_ON(!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARM_SCMI_HAVE_TRANSPORT));
+	scmi_bus_init();
 
 	/* Initialize any compiled-in transport which provided an init/exit */
 	ret = scmi_transports_init();