diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-dw.c b/drivers/spi/spi-dw.c
index 6de196df9c96..450c8218caeb 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-dw.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-dw.c
@@ -124,8 +124,16 @@ static inline void dw_spi_debugfs_remove(struct dw_spi *dws)
 void dw_spi_set_cs(struct spi_device *spi, bool enable)
 {
 	struct dw_spi *dws = spi_controller_get_devdata(spi->controller);
+	bool cs_high = !!(spi->mode & SPI_CS_HIGH);
 
-	if (!enable)
+	/*
+	 * DW SPI controller demands any native CS being set in order to
+	 * proceed with data transfer. So in order to activate the SPI
+	 * communications we must set a corresponding bit in the Slave
+	 * Enable register no matter whether the SPI core is configured to
+	 * support active-high or active-low CS level.
+	 */
+	if (cs_high == enable)
 		dw_writel(dws, DW_SPI_SER, BIT(spi->chip_select));
 	else if (dws->cs_override)
 		dw_writel(dws, DW_SPI_SER, 0);