diff --git a/drivers/mtd/nand/atmel_nand.c b/drivers/mtd/nand/atmel_nand.c
index eec8ca739cae..efc8ea250c1d 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/nand/atmel_nand.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/nand/atmel_nand.c
@@ -1212,6 +1212,7 @@ static int atmel_pmecc_nand_init_params(struct platform_device *pdev,
 		dev_warn(host->dev,
 			"Can't get I/O resource regs for PMECC controller, rolling back on software ECC\n");
 		nand_chip->ecc.mode = NAND_ECC_SOFT;
+		nand_chip->ecc.algo = NAND_ECC_HAMMING;
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -1295,6 +1296,7 @@ static int atmel_pmecc_nand_init_params(struct platform_device *pdev,
 		/* page size not handled by HW ECC */
 		/* switching back to soft ECC */
 		nand_chip->ecc.mode = NAND_ECC_SOFT;
+		nand_chip->ecc.algo = NAND_ECC_HAMMING;
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -1613,6 +1615,7 @@ static int atmel_of_init_port(struct atmel_nand_host *host,
 	 * even if the nand-ecc-mode property is not defined.
 	 */
 	host->nand_chip.ecc.mode = NAND_ECC_SOFT;
+	host->nand_chip.ecc.algo = NAND_ECC_HAMMING;
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -1629,6 +1632,7 @@ static int atmel_hw_nand_init_params(struct platform_device *pdev,
 		dev_err(host->dev,
 			"Can't get I/O resource regs, use software ECC\n");
 		nand_chip->ecc.mode = NAND_ECC_SOFT;
+		nand_chip->ecc.algo = NAND_ECC_HAMMING;
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -1661,6 +1665,7 @@ static int atmel_hw_nand_init_params(struct platform_device *pdev,
 		/* page size not handled by HW ECC */
 		/* switching back to soft ECC */
 		nand_chip->ecc.mode = NAND_ECC_SOFT;
+		nand_chip->ecc.algo = NAND_ECC_HAMMING;
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -2160,6 +2165,14 @@ static int atmel_nand_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 		       sizeof(struct atmel_nand_data));
 		nand_chip->ecc.mode = host->board.ecc_mode;
 
+		/*
+		 * When using software ECC every supported avr32 board means
+		 * Hamming algorithm. If that ever changes we'll need to add
+		 * ecc_algo field to the struct atmel_nand_data.
+		 */
+		if (nand_chip->ecc.mode == NAND_ECC_SOFT)
+			nand_chip->ecc.algo = NAND_ECC_HAMMING;
+
 		/* 16-bit bus width */
 		if (host->board.bus_width_16)
 			nand_chip->options |= NAND_BUSWIDTH_16;