diff --git a/arch/arm/src/sam34/sam_twi.c b/arch/arm/src/sam34/sam_twi.c
index 6e4aae1427..74d0e7d6ed 100644
--- a/arch/arm/src/sam34/sam_twi.c
+++ b/arch/arm/src/sam34/sam_twi.c
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ static void twi_startwrite(struct twi_dev_s *priv, struct i2c_msg_s *msg)
 
 static void twi_startmessage(struct twi_dev_s *priv, struct i2c_msg_s *msg)
 {
-  if ((msg->flags & I2C_M_READ) == 0)
+  if ((msg->flags & I2C_M_READ) != 0)
     {
       twi_startread(priv, msg);
     }