diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c b/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c
index bf9ed380bb1c0754addbd27aedf7d874cee89ff2..41d95a662be73946ffdfcb50667908c1b8243332 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c
@@ -773,7 +773,8 @@ static int atmel_spi_next_xfer_dma_submit(struct spi_master *master,
 
 	*plen = len;
 
-	if (atmel_spi_dma_slave_config(as, &slave_config, 8))
+	if (atmel_spi_dma_slave_config(as, &slave_config,
+				       xfer->bits_per_word))
 		goto err_exit;
 
 	/* Send both scatterlists */