diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-fsl-espi.c b/drivers/spi/spi-fsl-espi.c
index 1f97cce615d3d092afb6f3e439f337cc22127e08..65bb70d3bfc4f2388f1dc2b7189ddee5b56d5e9b 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-fsl-espi.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-fsl-espi.c
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ static int fsl_espi_check_message(struct spi_message *m)
 
 	first = list_first_entry(&m->transfers, struct spi_transfer,
 				 transfer_list);
+
 	list_for_each_entry(t, &m->transfers, transfer_list) {
 		if (first->bits_per_word != t->bits_per_word ||
 		    first->speed_hz != t->speed_hz) {
@@ -161,6 +162,15 @@ static int fsl_espi_check_message(struct spi_message *m)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* ESPI supports MSB-first transfers for word size 8 / 16 only */
+	if (!(m->spi->mode & SPI_LSB_FIRST) && first->bits_per_word != 8 &&
+	    first->bits_per_word != 16) {
+		dev_err(mspi->dev,
+			"MSB-first transfer not supported for wordsize %u\n",
+			first->bits_per_word);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	return 0;
 }