diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nvkm/subdev/i2c/base.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nvkm/subdev/i2c/base.c
index ecacb22834d76d..71934507471114 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nvkm/subdev/i2c/base.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nvkm/subdev/i2c/base.c
@@ -184,6 +184,25 @@ nvkm_i2c_fini(struct nvkm_subdev *subdev, bool suspend)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+nvkm_i2c_preinit(struct nvkm_subdev *subdev)
+{
+	struct nvkm_i2c *i2c = nvkm_i2c(subdev);
+	struct nvkm_i2c_bus *bus;
+	struct nvkm_i2c_pad *pad;
+
+	/*
+	 * We init our i2c busses as early as possible, since they may be
+	 * needed by the vbios init scripts on some cards
+	 */
+	list_for_each_entry(pad, &i2c->pad, head)
+		nvkm_i2c_pad_init(pad);
+	list_for_each_entry(bus, &i2c->bus, head)
+		nvkm_i2c_bus_init(bus);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static int
 nvkm_i2c_init(struct nvkm_subdev *subdev)
 {
@@ -238,6 +257,7 @@ nvkm_i2c_dtor(struct nvkm_subdev *subdev)
 static const struct nvkm_subdev_func
 nvkm_i2c = {
 	.dtor = nvkm_i2c_dtor,
+	.preinit = nvkm_i2c_preinit,
 	.init = nvkm_i2c_init,
 	.fini = nvkm_i2c_fini,
 	.intr = nvkm_i2c_intr,