diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-mem.c b/drivers/spi/spi-mem.c
index 9f0fa9f3116d..e5a46f0eb93b 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-mem.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-mem.c
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ int spi_mem_exec_op(struct spi_mem *mem, const struct spi_mem_op *op)
 	if (!spi_mem_internal_supports_op(mem, op))
 		return -ENOTSUPP;
 
-	if (ctlr->mem_ops) {
+	if (ctlr->mem_ops && !mem->spi->cs_gpiod) {
 		ret = spi_mem_access_start(mem);
 		if (ret)
 			return ret;