diff --git a/drivers/input/touchscreen/ad7879-spi.c b/drivers/input/touchscreen/ad7879-spi.c
index 9fa8e5de5ff9a2d87ccd732c6c2be3a13664f9f3..59c6e68c432507a61392993b572541dc2c8693a4 100644
--- a/drivers/input/touchscreen/ad7879-spi.c
+++ b/drivers/input/touchscreen/ad7879-spi.c
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ static const struct ad7879_bus_ops ad7879_spi_bus_ops = {
 static int __devinit ad7879_spi_probe(struct spi_device *spi)
 {
 	struct ad7879 *ts;
+	int err;
 
 	/* don't exceed max specified SPI CLK frequency */
 	if (spi->max_speed_hz > MAX_SPI_FREQ_HZ) {
@@ -141,6 +142,13 @@ static int __devinit ad7879_spi_probe(struct spi_device *spi)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	spi->bits_per_word = 16;
+	err = spi_setup(spi);
+	if (err) {
+	        dev_dbg(&spi->dev, "spi master doesn't support 16 bits/word\n");
+	        return err;
+	}
+
 	ts = ad7879_probe(&spi->dev, AD7879_DEVID, spi->irq, &ad7879_spi_bus_ops);
 	if (IS_ERR(ts))
 		return PTR_ERR(ts);