diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c
index 57a45ce8..b8f226a0 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-dev.c
@@ -270,9 +270,10 @@ static noinline int i2cdev_ioctl_rdrw(struct i2c_client *client,
 	res = 0;
 	for (i = 0; i < rdwr_arg.nmsgs; i++) {
 		/* Limit the size of the message to a sane amount;
-		 * and don't let length change either. */
+		 * with I2C_M_RECV_LEN require worst case len. */
 		if ((rdwr_pa[i].len > 8192) ||
-		    (rdwr_pa[i].flags & I2C_M_RECV_LEN)) {
+		    ((rdwr_pa[i].flags & I2C_M_RECV_LEN) &&
+		     (rdwr_pa[i].len < 256))) {
 			res = -EINVAL;
 			break;
 		}