diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-microchip-core.c b/drivers/spi/spi-microchip-core.c
index 8043a18e7c3b..65dbd59c4596 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-microchip-core.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-microchip-core.c
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
 
 #define REG_CONTROL		(0x00)
 #define REG_FRAME_SIZE		(0x04)
+#define  FRAME_SIZE_MASK	GENMASK(5, 0)
 #define REG_STATUS		(0x08)
 #define REG_INT_CLEAR		(0x0c)
 #define REG_RX_DATA		(0x10)
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@
 #define REG_RIS			(0x24)
 #define REG_CONTROL2		(0x28)
 #define REG_COMMAND		(0x2c)
+#define  COMMAND_CLRFRAMECNT	BIT(4)
 #define REG_PKTSIZE		(0x30)
 #define REG_CMD_SIZE		(0x34)
 #define REG_HWSTATUS		(0x38)
@@ -149,62 +151,59 @@ static inline void mchp_corespi_read_fifo(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
 
 static void mchp_corespi_enable_ints(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
 {
-	u32 control, mask = INT_ENABLE_MASK;
+	u32 control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
 
-	mchp_corespi_disable(spi);
-
-	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
-
-	control |= mask;
-	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
-
-	control |= CONTROL_ENABLE;
+	control |= INT_ENABLE_MASK;
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
 }
 
 static void mchp_corespi_disable_ints(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
 {
-	u32 control, mask = INT_ENABLE_MASK;
+	u32 control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
 
-	mchp_corespi_disable(spi);
-
-	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
-	control &= ~mask;
-	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
-
-	control |= CONTROL_ENABLE;
+	control &= ~INT_ENABLE_MASK;
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
 }
 
 static inline void mchp_corespi_set_xfer_size(struct mchp_corespi *spi, int len)
 {
 	u32 control;
-	u16 lenpart;
+	u32 lenpart;
+	u32 frames = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_FRAMESUP);
 
 	/*
-	 * Disable the SPI controller. Writes to transfer length have
-	 * no effect when the controller is enabled.
+	 * Writing to FRAMECNT in REG_CONTROL will reset the frame count, taking
+	 * a shortcut requires an explicit clear.
 	 */
-	mchp_corespi_disable(spi);
+	if (frames == len) {
+		mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_COMMAND, COMMAND_CLRFRAMECNT);
+		return;
+	}
 
 	/*
 	 * The lower 16 bits of the frame count are stored in the control reg
 	 * for legacy reasons, but the upper 16 written to a different register:
 	 * FRAMESUP. While both the upper and lower bits can be *READ* from the
-	 * FRAMESUP register, writing to the lower 16 bits is a NOP
+	 * FRAMESUP register, writing to the lower 16 bits is (supposedly) a NOP.
+	 *
+	 * The driver used to disable the controller while modifying the frame
+	 * count, and mask off the lower 16 bits of len while writing to
+	 * FRAMES_UP. When the driver was changed to disable the controller as
+	 * infrequently as possible, it was discovered that the logic of
+	 * lenpart = len & 0xffff_0000
+	 * write(REG_FRAMESUP, lenpart)
+	 * would actually write zeros into the lower 16 bits on an mpfs250t-es,
+	 * despite documentation stating these bits were read-only.
+	 * Writing len unmasked into FRAMES_UP ensures those bits aren't zeroed
+	 * on an mpfs250t-es and will be a NOP for the lower 16 bits on hardware
+	 * that matches the documentation.
 	 */
 	lenpart = len & 0xffff;
-
 	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
 	control &= ~CONTROL_FRAMECNT_MASK;
 	control |= lenpart << CONTROL_FRAMECNT_SHIFT;
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
-
-	lenpart = len & 0xffff0000;
-	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_FRAMESUP, lenpart);
-
-	control |= CONTROL_ENABLE;
-	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
+	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_FRAMESUP, len);
 }
 
 static inline void mchp_corespi_write_fifo(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
@@ -227,17 +226,22 @@ static inline void mchp_corespi_write_fifo(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
 
 static inline void mchp_corespi_set_framesize(struct mchp_corespi *spi, int bt)
 {
+	u32 frame_size = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_FRAME_SIZE);
 	u32 control;
 
+	if ((frame_size & FRAME_SIZE_MASK) == bt)
+		return;
+
 	/*
 	 * Disable the SPI controller. Writes to the frame size have
 	 * no effect when the controller is enabled.
 	 */
-	mchp_corespi_disable(spi);
+	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
+	control &= ~CONTROL_ENABLE;
+	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
 
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_FRAME_SIZE, bt);
 
-	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
 	control |= CONTROL_ENABLE;
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
 }
@@ -334,8 +338,6 @@ static inline void mchp_corespi_set_clk_gen(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
 {
 	u32 control;
 
-	mchp_corespi_disable(spi);
-
 	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
 	if (spi->clk_mode)
 		control |= CONTROL_CLKMODE;
@@ -344,12 +346,12 @@ static inline void mchp_corespi_set_clk_gen(struct mchp_corespi *spi)
 
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CLK_GEN, spi->clk_gen);
 	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
-	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control | CONTROL_ENABLE);
 }
 
 static inline void mchp_corespi_set_mode(struct mchp_corespi *spi, unsigned int mode)
 {
-	u32 control, mode_val;
+	u32 mode_val;
+	u32 control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
 
 	switch (mode & SPI_MODE_X_MASK) {
 	case SPI_MODE_0:
@@ -367,12 +369,13 @@ static inline void mchp_corespi_set_mode(struct mchp_corespi *spi, unsigned int
 	}
 
 	/*
-	 * Disable the SPI controller. Writes to the frame size have
+	 * Disable the SPI controller. Writes to the frame protocol have
 	 * no effect when the controller is enabled.
 	 */
-	mchp_corespi_disable(spi);
 
-	control = mchp_corespi_read(spi, REG_CONTROL);
+	control &= ~CONTROL_ENABLE;
+	mchp_corespi_write(spi, REG_CONTROL, control);
+
 	control &= ~(SPI_MODE_X_MASK << MODE_X_MASK_SHIFT);
 	control |= mode_val;