diff --git a/sys/arm/freescale/imx/imx_spi.c b/sys/arm/freescale/imx/imx_spi.c
index b6707db99147..00783d385e79 100644
--- a/sys/arm/freescale/imx/imx_spi.c
+++ b/sys/arm/freescale/imx/imx_spi.c
@@ -558,9 +558,16 @@ spi_attach(device_t dev)
 	 */
 	WR4(sc, ECSPI_CTLREG, CTLREG_CMODES_MASTER);
 
-	/* Attach the bus driver. */
+	/*
+	 * Add the spibus driver as a child, and setup a one-shot intrhook to
+	 * attach it after interrupts are working.  It will attach actual SPI
+	 * devices as its children, and those devices may need to do IO during
+	 * their attach. We can't do IO until timers and interrupts are working.
+	 */
 	sc->spibus = device_add_child(dev, "spibus", -1);
-	return (bus_generic_attach(sc->dev));
+	config_intrhook_oneshot((ich_func_t)bus_generic_attach, dev);
+
+	return (0);
 }
 
 static int