diff --git a/drivers/mmc/host/davinci_mmc.c b/drivers/mmc/host/davinci_mmc.c
index 1e076fb06ac3..c1f3673ae1ef 100644
--- a/drivers/mmc/host/davinci_mmc.c
+++ b/drivers/mmc/host/davinci_mmc.c
@@ -160,6 +160,16 @@ module_param(rw_threshold, uint, S_IRUGO);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(rw_threshold,
 		"Read/Write threshold. Default = 32");
 
+static unsigned poll_threshold = 128;
+module_param(poll_threshold, uint, S_IRUGO);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(poll_threshold,
+		 "Polling transaction size threshold. Default = 128");
+
+static unsigned poll_loopcount = 32;
+module_param(poll_loopcount, uint, S_IRUGO);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(poll_loopcount,
+		 "Maximum polling loop count. Default = 32");
+
 static unsigned __initdata use_dma = 1;
 module_param(use_dma, uint, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(use_dma, "Whether to use DMA or not. Default = 1");
@@ -193,6 +203,7 @@ struct mmc_davinci_host {
 	bool use_dma;
 	bool do_dma;
 	bool sdio_int;
+	bool active_request;
 
 	/* Scatterlist DMA uses one or more parameter RAM entries:
 	 * the main one (associated with rxdma or txdma) plus zero or
@@ -219,6 +230,7 @@ struct mmc_davinci_host {
 #endif
 };
 
+static irqreturn_t mmc_davinci_irq(int irq, void *dev_id);
 
 /* PIO only */
 static void mmc_davinci_sg_to_buf(struct mmc_davinci_host *host)
@@ -376,7 +388,20 @@ static void mmc_davinci_start_command(struct mmc_davinci_host *host,
 
 	writel(cmd->arg, host->base + DAVINCI_MMCARGHL);
 	writel(cmd_reg,  host->base + DAVINCI_MMCCMD);
-	writel(im_val, host->base + DAVINCI_MMCIM);
+
+	host->active_request = true;
+
+	if (!host->do_dma && host->bytes_left <= poll_threshold) {
+		u32 count = poll_loopcount;
+
+		while (host->active_request && count--) {
+			mmc_davinci_irq(0, host);
+			cpu_relax();
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (host->active_request)
+		writel(im_val, host->base + DAVINCI_MMCIM);
 }
 
 /*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/
@@ -915,6 +940,7 @@ mmc_davinci_xfer_done(struct mmc_davinci_host *host, struct mmc_data *data)
 	if (!data->stop || (host->cmd && host->cmd->error)) {
 		mmc_request_done(host->mmc, data->mrq);
 		writel(0, host->base + DAVINCI_MMCIM);
+		host->active_request = false;
 	} else
 		mmc_davinci_start_command(host, data->stop);
 }
@@ -942,6 +968,7 @@ static void mmc_davinci_cmd_done(struct mmc_davinci_host *host,
 			cmd->mrq->cmd->retries = 0;
 		mmc_request_done(host->mmc, cmd->mrq);
 		writel(0, host->base + DAVINCI_MMCIM);
+		host->active_request = false;
 	}
 }