diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/mwifiex/sdio.c b/drivers/net/wireless/mwifiex/sdio.c
index 7cef27e9d33f..5d05c6fe6429 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/mwifiex/sdio.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/mwifiex/sdio.c
@@ -920,6 +920,8 @@ static int mwifiex_prog_fw_w_helper(struct mwifiex_adapter *adapter,
 	if (!fwbuf)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	sdio_claim_host(card->func);
+
 	/* Perform firmware data transfer */
 	do {
 		/* The host polls for the DN_LD_CARD_RDY and CARD_IO_READY
@@ -1024,6 +1026,8 @@ static int mwifiex_prog_fw_w_helper(struct mwifiex_adapter *adapter,
 		offset += txlen;
 	} while (true);
 
+	sdio_release_host(card->func);
+
 	mwifiex_dbg(adapter, MSG,
 		    "info: FW download over, size %d bytes\n", offset);