diff --git a/drivers/pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware.c b/drivers/pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware.c
index 55c1c60f7f8f..aca5bbeade03 100644
--- a/drivers/pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware.c
+++ b/drivers/pci/controller/dwc/pcie-designware.c
@@ -696,8 +696,9 @@ void dw_pcie_disable_atu(struct dw_pcie *pci, u32 dir, int index)
  * dw_pcie_wait_for_link - Wait for the PCIe link to be up
  * @pci: DWC instance
  *
- * Returns: 0 if link is up, -ENODEV if device is not found, -ETIMEDOUT if the
- * link fails to come up for other reasons.
+ * Returns: 0 if link is up, -ENODEV if device is not found, -EIO if the device
+ * is found but not active and -ETIMEDOUT if the link fails to come up for other
+ * reasons.
  */
 int dw_pcie_wait_for_link(struct dw_pcie *pci)
 {
@@ -722,6 +723,16 @@ int dw_pcie_wait_for_link(struct dw_pcie *pci)
 		    ltssm == DW_PCIE_LTSSM_DETECT_ACT) {
 			dev_info(pci->dev, "Device not found\n");
 			return -ENODEV;
+
+		/*
+		 * If the link is in POLL.{Active/Compliance} state, then the
+		 * device is found to be connected to the bus, but it is not
+		 * active i.e., the device firmware might not yet initialized.
+		 */
+		} else if (ltssm == DW_PCIE_LTSSM_POLL_ACTIVE ||
+			   ltssm == DW_PCIE_LTSSM_POLL_COMPLIANCE) {
+			dev_info(pci->dev, "Device found, but not active\n");
+			return -EIO;
 		}
 
 		dev_info(pci->dev, "Phy link never came up\n");