diff --git a/drivers/iio/accel/bma220_core.c b/drivers/iio/accel/bma220_core.c
index 050827bfb9e6..38a2f36783cd 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/accel/bma220_core.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/accel/bma220_core.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <linux/cleanup.h>
 #include <linux/device.h>
 #include <linux/errno.h>
+#include <linux/i2c.h>
 #include <linux/mod_devicetable.h>
 #include <linux/module.h>
 #include <linux/mutex.h>
@@ -356,6 +357,12 @@ static int bma220_power(struct bma220_data *data, bool up)
 	return -EBUSY;
 }
 
+static int bma220_set_wdt(struct bma220_data *data, const u8 val)
+{
+	return regmap_update_bits(data->regmap, BMA220_REG_WDT, BMA220_WDT_MASK,
+				  FIELD_PREP(BMA220_WDT_MASK, val));
+}
+
 static int bma220_init(struct device *dev, struct bma220_data *data)
 {
 	int ret;
@@ -384,6 +391,13 @@ static int bma220_init(struct device *dev, struct bma220_data *data)
 	if (ret)
 		return dev_err_probe(dev, ret, "Failed to soft reset chip\n");
 
+	if (i2c_verify_client(dev)) {
+		ret = bma220_set_wdt(data, BMA220_WDT_1MS);
+		if (ret)
+			return dev_err_probe(dev, ret,
+					     "Failed to set i2c watchdog\n");
+	}
+
 	return 0;
 }