diff --git a/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-loader.c b/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-loader.c
index 4b2ab351e2cc..07b73fe3c5e5 100644
--- a/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-loader.c
+++ b/sound/soc/sof/intel/hda-loader.c
@@ -147,8 +147,9 @@ static int cl_dsp_init(struct snd_sof_dev *sdev, int stream_tag)
 				       chip->ipc_ack_mask,
 				       chip->ipc_ack_mask);
 
-	/* step 5: power down corex */
-	ret = hda_dsp_core_power_down(sdev, chip->host_managed_cores_mask & ~(BIT(0)));
+	/* step 5: power down cores that are no longer needed */
+	ret = hda_dsp_core_power_down(sdev, chip->host_managed_cores_mask &
+				      ~(chip->init_core_mask));
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		if (hda->boot_iteration == HDA_FW_BOOT_ATTEMPTS)
 			dev_err(sdev->dev,