diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-common.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-common.c
index d792c65d46ae..e4dfa2ec58bb 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-common.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-common.c
@@ -633,6 +633,14 @@ void __i2c_dw_disable(struct dw_i2c_dev *dev)
 
 	abort_needed = (raw_intr_stats & DW_IC_INTR_MST_ON_HOLD) ||
 			(ic_stats & DW_IC_STATUS_MASTER_HOLD_TX_FIFO_EMPTY);
+
+	/*
+	 * If we are in target mode and there is activity, we should also
+	 * trigger an abort to clear the internal state machines.
+	 */
+	if (dev->mode == DW_IC_SLAVE && (ic_stats & DW_IC_STATUS_SLAVE_ACTIVITY))
+		abort_needed = true;
+
 	if (abort_needed) {
 		if (!(enable & DW_IC_ENABLE_ENABLE)) {
 			regmap_write(dev->map, DW_IC_ENABLE, DW_IC_ENABLE_ENABLE);
diff --git a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-master.c b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-master.c
index de929b91d5ea..7a301c8b604e 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-master.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-designware-master.c
@@ -785,18 +785,25 @@ __i2c_dw_xfer_one_part(struct dw_i2c_dev *dev, struct i2c_msg *msgs, size_t num)
 	 * IC_RAW_INTR_STAT.MASTER_ON_HOLD holding SCL low. Check if
 	 * controller is still ACTIVE before disabling I2C.
 	 */
-	if (i2c_dw_is_controller_active(dev))
-		dev_err(dev->dev, "controller active\n");
-
-	/*
-	 * We must disable the adapter before returning and signaling the end
-	 * of the current transfer. Otherwise the hardware might continue
-	 * generating interrupts which in turn causes a race condition with
-	 * the following transfer. Needs some more investigation if the
-	 * additional interrupts are a hardware bug or this driver doesn't
-	 * handle them correctly yet.
-	 */
-	__i2c_dw_disable_nowait(dev);
+	if (i2c_dw_is_controller_active(dev)) {
+		/*
+		 * If the controller is still active after the timeout, attempt a
+		 * bus recovery to clear any potentially locked state.
+		 */
+		dev_err(dev->dev, "controller active after xfer, recovering\n");
+		i2c_recover_bus(&dev->adapter);
+		i2c_dw_init(dev);
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * We must disable the adapter before returning and signaling the end
+		 * of the current transfer. Otherwise the hardware might continue
+		 * generating interrupts which in turn causes a race condition with
+		 * the following transfer. Needs some more investigation if the
+		 * additional interrupts are a hardware bug or this driver doesn't
+		 * handle them correctly yet.
+		 */
+		__i2c_dw_disable_nowait(dev);
+	}
 
 	if (dev->msg_err)
 		return dev->msg_err;