diff --git a/drivers/mtd/devices/m25p80.c b/drivers/mtd/devices/m25p80.c
index dfadef84c0528f9318f0c0d6fa3e2c612db65b5a..cc6369ea67dd22051eccddcf88f90ee19096c5d5 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/devices/m25p80.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/devices/m25p80.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 #define	SR_SRWD			0x80	/* SR write protect */
 
 /* Define max times to check status register before we give up. */
-#define	MAX_READY_WAIT_COUNT	1000000
+#define	MAX_READY_WAIT_JIFFIES	(10 * HZ)	/* eg. M25P128 specs 6s max sector erase */
 #define	CMD_SIZE		4
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_M25PXX_USE_FAST_READ
@@ -139,20 +139,20 @@ static inline int write_enable(struct m25p *flash)
  */
 static int wait_till_ready(struct m25p *flash)
 {
-	int count;
+	unsigned long deadline;
 	int sr;
 
-	/* one chip guarantees max 5 msec wait here after page writes,
-	 * but potentially three seconds (!) after page erase.
-	 */
-	for (count = 0; count < MAX_READY_WAIT_COUNT; count++) {
+	deadline = jiffies + MAX_READY_WAIT_JIFFIES;
+
+	do {
 		if ((sr = read_sr(flash)) < 0)
 			break;
 		else if (!(sr & SR_WIP))
 			return 0;
 
-		/* REVISIT sometimes sleeping would be best */
-	}
+		cond_resched();
+
+	} while (!time_after_eq(jiffies, deadline));
 
 	return 1;
 }