diff --git a/drivers/block/xsysace.c b/drivers/block/xsysace.c
index 10bb4e54f68522a14daf1c0003a4d40176d7bfb9..296d5674a3c15b64e9778803f712faf24d28f86b 100644
--- a/drivers/block/xsysace.c
+++ b/drivers/block/xsysace.c
@@ -949,15 +949,6 @@ static int __devinit ace_setup(struct ace_device *ace)
 	if (!ace->baseaddr)
 		goto err_ioremap;
 
-	if (ace->irq != NO_IRQ) {
-		rc = request_irq(ace->irq, ace_interrupt, 0, "systemace", ace);
-		if (rc) {
-			/* Failure - fall back to polled mode */
-			dev_err(ace->dev, "request_irq failed\n");
-			ace->irq = NO_IRQ;
-		}
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * Initialize the state machine tasklet and stall timer
 	 */
@@ -1015,6 +1006,16 @@ static int __devinit ace_setup(struct ace_device *ace)
 	val |= ACE_CTRL_DATABUFRDYIRQ | ACE_CTRL_ERRORIRQ;
 	ace_out(ace, ACE_CTRL, val);
 
+	/* Now we can hook up the irq handler */
+	if (ace->irq != NO_IRQ) {
+		rc = request_irq(ace->irq, ace_interrupt, 0, "systemace", ace);
+		if (rc) {
+			/* Failure - fall back to polled mode */
+			dev_err(ace->dev, "request_irq failed\n");
+			ace->irq = NO_IRQ;
+		}
+	}
+
 	/* Print the identification */
 	dev_info(ace->dev, "Xilinx SystemACE revision %i.%i.%i\n",
 		 (version >> 12) & 0xf, (version >> 8) & 0x0f, version & 0xff);
@@ -1035,8 +1036,6 @@ static int __devinit ace_setup(struct ace_device *ace)
 	blk_cleanup_queue(ace->queue);
       err_blk_initq:
 	iounmap(ace->baseaddr);
-	if (ace->irq != NO_IRQ)
-		free_irq(ace->irq, ace);
       err_ioremap:
 	dev_info(ace->dev, "xsysace: error initializing device at 0x%lx\n",
 	       ace->physaddr);