diff --git a/tools/spi/spidev_test.c b/tools/spi/spidev_test.c
index 97d09bf4dafb..e46eaef4d2ab 100644
--- a/tools/spi/spidev_test.c
+++ b/tools/spi/spidev_test.c
@@ -173,6 +173,15 @@ static void transfer(int fd, uint8_t const *tx, uint8_t const *rx, size_t len)
 
 	if (verbose)
 		hex_dump(rx, len, 32, "RX");
+
+	if (mode & SPI_LOOP) {
+		if (memcmp(tx, rx, len)) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "transfer error !\n");
+			hex_dump(tx, len, 32, "TX");
+			hex_dump(rx, len, 32, "RX");
+			exit(1);
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 static void print_usage(const char *prog)
@@ -435,15 +444,6 @@ static void transfer_buf(int fd, int len)
 	_write_count += len;
 	_read_count += len;
 
-	if (mode & SPI_LOOP) {
-		if (memcmp(tx, rx, len)) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "transfer error !\n");
-			hex_dump(tx, len, 32, "TX");
-			hex_dump(rx, len, 32, "RX");
-			exit(1);
-		}
-	}
-
 	free(rx);
 	free(tx);
 }