diff --git a/arch/mips/netlogic/common/earlycons.c b/arch/mips/netlogic/common/earlycons.c
index f193f7b3bd81..1902fa22d277 100644
--- a/arch/mips/netlogic/common/earlycons.c
+++ b/arch/mips/netlogic/common/earlycons.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ void prom_putchar(char c)
 #elif defined(CONFIG_CPU_XLR)
 	uartbase = nlm_mmio_base(NETLOGIC_IO_UART_0_OFFSET);
 #endif
-	while (nlm_read_reg(uartbase, UART_LSR) == 0)
+	while ((nlm_read_reg(uartbase, UART_LSR) & UART_LSR_THRE) == 0)
 		;
 	nlm_write_reg(uartbase, UART_TX, c);
 }